


The Idealist

by Kouzai



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Childhood Trauma, Dark, Female Protagonist, Friendship, Gen, Multiple Universes Colliding, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Not Canon Compliant, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Other, POV Multiple, Psychological Trauma, Reincarnation, Slow Build, Warring States Period (Naruto)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-06-23 19:03:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 110,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19707541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kouzai/pseuds/Kouzai
Summary: A story of an alternate world where small changes long, long ago made a Ninja World of a somewhat different history and different and familiar people, unusual legends and heroes, and inhuman villains. Meet a young girl that tries to survive the endless wars.She didn't want to die; didn't want to forget. She feared becoming a nobody. So then, wasn't it ironic that she would be reborn in the Warring States Period as the product of two clans. She might as well have just put a bull's eye on her back. Sakuya was likely to die as a nobody at best, hated and killed early at worst. Just another body in a sea of corpses.If she truly wanted even a small chance of avoiding that fate, there was really only one option for her. Cheat, hack, abuse the universe, use whatever was at her disposal and fight for another day.She was no hero, despite what her self-preservation had ended up causing.I will be posting this story on RoyalRoad.com as well as Quotev.





	1. And So It Begins...

_**"For something to be born, something must break. The same thing applies to humans. Do you understand what I mean?"** _

-

Sometimes there is a moment when you know things will never be the same.

  
For her, it was when she finally decided to try and bring the images, personalities and voices she had seen from two characters in her mind over the years into complete awareness.

Several blank sheets of paper sat before the young woman, empty of words and seemingly taunting her for what she was about to attempt. She had never tried using sigils before, and she was skipping over that stage entirely to making two distinct and fully developed servitors.

It was risky, and would likely not work, but she needed some sense of compassion, loyalty and love in her life. She needed someone who actually cared about her, who needed and wanted her, and didn't treat her as a tool or a means of an end. If they acknowledged her at all, that is.

She always had a unnaturally strong imagination anyway, so even if this was a delusion on her part, it would feel more real to her than the hollow mockery of people and life she sees each and every day.

Taking up a pen, the glasses wearing brown haired woman began to write down what she had pictured of the two in particular for most of her life.

The statement of intent for both of them were to: protect her, provide for her, enrich her life, be companions to her and to help her achieve her dreams, goals and desires.

A little over the top and melodramatic but given the fact she never had anyone like that in her real life, such a thing might be forgiven.

Besides, she highly doubted it would work anyway. No harm with messing around with it.

For intelligence, she focused on making them both highly intelligent and adaptive in different ways. The first servitor would specialize in Existential, Logical-Mathematical and Linguistic field of intelligence. The second servitor embodied Bodily-Kinesthetic, Intrapersonal and Naturalist intelligence. They shared aspects of Visual-Spatial and Interpersonal intelligence and failed at anything to do with music.

Due to their role as companions and friends, they would need to have their own consciousness and personality. That way they could interact with her, solve problems, find creative solutions and learn.

They were both allowed to around indefinitely, with the exception of they and their role were ever replaced.

They were her creations and would be focused on carrying out their roles in the manners they come up with. As long as they were unswaying in their affection and attention toward her, and never betrayed her like the rest of the world did, then they had mostly free reign to how they accomplished those tasks.

Their personalities and outlook toward her were the same, though she would be giving them both different ways to show it and would allow it to change positively. She would also have them react to and view the world differently.

Long ago, when she first had the rough images for them they embodied her positive, neutral and negative emotions so she could understand them and wouldn't be overwhelmed. In her mind they had their own personalities, goals and dreams but also had her true feelings and thoughts that she could never share or be punished for being not normal or showing others what was really going on in the happy household she was forced to portray. They kept her somewhat sane and stable as she went through the decades of abuse that was willfully ignored by her family and friends.

The least she could do was attempt to give them more of a tangible existence.

On a separate piece of paper she listed the positive, neutral and negative personality traits they would both share then went into the traits that were suited to their own personalities and mannerisms on two other sheets of paper.

To continue safeguarding herself, and to have someone helping her no matter what, she made sure much of their traits, but especially the positive ones, were focused on her in some way.

It might have been selfish, but she wanted something that was hers and hers alone.

Servitors apparently needed to feed, but she didn't understand what that meant exactly. She made it that she could feed them or they could find a way to feed themselves, regardless. As a precaution, she allowed them to eat human or common food, emotional energy, energy, sunlight and other forms of sustainable energy.

They would be able to be used or help others, but she would be their main focus since they helped control the external issues she had with the world and would protect her.

Next was the correspondences, things that were connected to both servitors.

The first servitor was cold and frigid as ice to most, but warmed up to those he felt deserved it. Mountains, the vast deserts, snow covered plains, and iced over rivers and lakes were what locations she saw him in. Pale gold, light blues, white, silver, and dark green were his colors. He smelled of clean water, damp soil, and the chill wind of winter. Butterflies suited him, though the black, white and blue kind were his main calling card. The number 13 was his.

The second servitor was passionate and energetic like the flames, burning and nuturing at the drop of a hat. Forests, crowded urban areas, beaches, the oceans, volcanos, and the underground was where she felt he was best suited. Reds, oranges, yellows, dark blues, black and purple were his colors. He smelled of blood and death but not offensively, the flames of his hate and rage gave him a slight smokiness to him. His animals were crows and Ravens and the number 4 belonged to him.

The second to last task was to design their appearance. They would both be highly attractive, she had the right to do so or so she believed, and different.

The older servitor was about six feet tall, willowy and thin with a slightly feminine look to him. He was dressed in a formal pale blue suit with black, white and dark blue butterflies floating around him. He had fluffy blond hair that ended at around eye level in the front and sides and bottom of the neck in the back. The young man had ice blue eyes and in his right ear was an earring of a white butterfly.

The younger servitor was easily six and a half feet tall, his tall almost lanky if muscular physique making him seen even taller. The young man was immaculately dressed as always in his shined black dress shoes, fine black jeans, dark purple belt with a golden buckle, a dark gray dress top with a purple vest over it, and the faded and battle worn black fedora with the very long tattered dark red ribbon tied around it rested on top of his head. His left ear had a black feather earring. That man had lightly pale skin, a large very deranged grin filled with teeth made to tear flesh from bone and golden eyes that were nothing less than predatory were half hidden by his chest length fluffy and a bit shaggy dark red hair.

The last step was to name them. Like their personalities, their voices, and their appearance had been with her from a tender age, so had their names.

With a strange sense of finality, the young woman wrote down their names.

"Gavin Emrys and Royce Davidson," she said in a near trance like state. "Help me restart my life!"

"How utterly pathetic." Pain shot through her shoulder as she was pulled out of the trance and forced back into awareness from the injury and the cruel words. Vision fuzzy, and feeling like she was going to be sick, the brown haired woman looked up into her cousin's face as best she could and recoiled at the raw rage on the older females face.

"I... I-" she stammered, looking down at her shoulder where the death grip was, she followed that to her cousin's boytoy who was shaking her for a while.

"I told you not to be in this room anymore! You have your own!" The woman shouted, but she had a hard time of focusing on anything there anymore.

"Your dog keeps on breaking them down and entering my room. I'm always with it when you leave it on the ground floor for the night and am attacked and actively hurt by that nuisance! And everything it breaks down my door it attacks my cats too! I was going crazy in that room so I came out here since the dog and you guys were out and-"

"You worthless insect." The male said. She never learned his name despite the years living in this hell because he, like her cousin, were abusive and she didn't want to deal with either of them. The constant fighting from them, the cheating on one another, and other chaos had made any chance of entering a relationship further down the line pointless at seeing and being on the receiving end of their tantrums. "How dare you say that about Lady!"

Her blood ran cold as a chilly clarity filled her. Her senses sharpened and with a confidence that she would never had possessed prior said, "Get your filthy hands off me. Your only function in this household is to come in every few weeks, screw her and then leave the next day. You don't live here, and you rarely visit aside from doing that or wanting money."

The coldness grew as she forcibly removed his hand from her, quickly snapping it at the wrist. A scream was ripped from his throat as he clutched the broken hand to his chest and glowered at her. "I'll kill you!"

"You will try," she said in a detached, knowing manner. She dismissed his existence entirely to focus on her cousin Agatha. "And you dear cousin should have asked me about the dog before it moved in. I haven't been around dogs for decades, and then being wounded by that barking pest dozens of times a day did not endear me further to it or you."

"Why should I tell you anything?! This is my house!" Agatha yelled.

Her eyes narrowed in distaste, as she did her best to ignore the triggers growing from the touch and being screamed at.

"I am renting only two rooms while also taking care of most of the bills. I deserve the right to know this or have a choice." She said calmly.  
This is not going to end well.

It wasn't the first time she was viciously abused or yelled at by her or any of her family. It was a regular thing from her earliest moments of childhood. In fact, the only reason why she wasn't a gibbering mess of a girl was the detached emotional state she was currently in.

"That can be fixed."

There was no warning, no sign. Just one moment it was an argument and the next she was sprawled out on the floor in the fetal position. Blows rained down her body and the coldness was exchanged for fear and desperation.

It was a long time since anyone hurt her this bad. Physically at least. The biggest difference between this and the last time, is these two didn't care about not leaving marks or proof of the damage.  
With her lifetime of surviving mental, emotional and physical abuse, one would think she would have had experience with stab wounds or broken bones. She had none, since those who hurt her body were careful not to leave much more than faint bruises or only hurt her where places were covered by clothing.

There was a crunching sound, and her hand pulsed with acute pain. It was hard for her to feel pain since she had always had lower than average sensitivity to stimuli. But she felt it.

**"Don't look at it."**

She covered her head, more to hide herself from the boiling rage in what she thought of was one of her so-called servitors voices than anything else.

Behind her folded arms shielding her face, she saw the glint of a very sharp knife. All she could do was focus on it as it slowly descended.

 **"Tell me... Have you ever thought of familicide?"** The voice asked again.

Thoughts of killing them, of escaping the abuse at all costs had been a near constant of her life but she couldn't do it. Even now, she couldn't.

She was pushed onto her back and she stared unseeingly at the knife. Above the twisted, insane faces of the cardboard and empty people she was forced to spend her life being subservient to was two frowning

men. One had blond hair and furious eyes like a frozen over lake and the other had shaggy hair the color of her blood spilling out and disturbed golden eyes.

Royce Davidson and Gavin Emrys were really there.

"How could this happen? Did she have no say?" Gavin uttered.

"We both knew it would end this way," Royce countered. His usual sadistic grin was replaced by a scowl.

I'm more angry at this point about them singing as I'm being killed by a family member and her toy.

"You're not happy so let's you and me, have some fun. One on One."

_I continued to fool myself, thirsting for revenge only in secret. But what I truly wanted was to be free of them... Even if their lives had to be taken to allow me to breath._

She reached up to them, hoping and praying for some relief. She thought she saw golden butterflies start to form around the two thought forms made flesh, but pushed that thought away.

"Nobody wanted you here! Waste of space. Monster!" Those were the last words she heard from anyone she called family.

Heart breaking at the last betrayal from decades of torment that even the death of the main abuser didn't halt, she gave one last smile to a world that had seen fit to give her bad luck.

-

For the first time in their existence, they felt loss and sorrow. Looking down at their Creator as she fully accepted the animosity, dislike and hatred that the world had bestowed in the hearts of those around her they were struck dumb.

Born from a desperation to escape the abuse from her toddler years onto late young adulthood, the two creations were to display, feel, say, thing and do what she couldn't. The years of forced medication for dozens of diagnosis that weren't close to her Asperger's syndrome, and the physical, mental and emotional abuse from friends, family and the community that was only broken by the neglect and ignoring her had fueled her dormant abilities to create them and draw other things to her.

Between the hallucinations and psychotic breakdowns due to the medication and trauma, it was understandable that she didn't pay attention to the shadows and whispers that were a daily occurrence as anything more than mental issues. Her uncanny luck in games of chance, noticing possibilities and oddities, and connecting to people who lived distantly from her were unparalleled. The bad luck of attracting abusive behaviour from others, being neglected and taught to put up a mild mannered facade to hide her true self and intentions had given birth to them.

Creating these servitors, aides, was unexpected and unneeded for they were there for her since she was a toddler. They grew up with her, adapted and evolved in their own distinct paths, and talked to her to the point she thought she was mad once or twice at hearing them.

Over time they developed their own emotions and personalities, but they were irrevocably bond to her, not that they desired anything else.

Gavin picked up the cooling body of his Creator, cradling the limp form to his chest as tears fell from his eyes. He didn't understand what he was feeling, Royce was more in tune with his emotions and others, but whatever it was made him sick. Similar to someone squeezing his heart and twisting his inner organs.

Well, what he imagined it would feel like if he had them at least.

Clouded icy blue eyes stared lifelessly up at him and the black glasses she wore had fallen off her face during the attack.

The snapping of the glass in them from a thoughtless step, told him his partner had finished doing what he wanted. Blood covered the man, which as nothing new, and drops of the red liquid fell on her lifeless face as Royce pushed her eyelids over the unseeing gaze.

"We should go."

For the first time since it happened, Gavin looked away from the young woman in his arms to the red haired individual. Blood splattered over his clothes and body, and there was an expression of grim resolution on his face. The wide toothy grin was absent, which startled the blond.

"What about her animals? Her property?"

Even as he asked, he hadn't sensed or heard the two cats that brought her company in her small dark room.

Royce slowly shook his head and Gavin sighed.

"I see." He uttered, knowing the two creatures that she would have been concerned about had been dealt with prior to the attack.

Without saying another word, Gavin and the one he cradled burst into thousands of golden butterflies.

Royce took a look around at his handiwork before following suit, bursting into hundreds of black plumage feathers. A single golden butterfly and black feather laid untarnished in the blood.

-

The massacre at the dead end house in the quiet suburbs was the first of many similar scenes of death across the country. Investigators would marvel at the varying degrees of bloodlust and macabre irony some demises invoked, while being horrified at how the bodies and lives were disrespected.

A conspiracy would form over the next few years and decades thanks to it's cold case and unsolvable nature that the long missing third inhabitant of the first crime scene was the murderer. Over time, the identity of the young woman was lost and the cause for the deaths overlooked.

-

  
Gavin gently brushed the long curly dark brown hair of the sleeping young woman, changing the hair color and style slowly but surely. Shades of white, the with majority of it being pristine snow replaced the brown and the curls became fluffier and thicker.

Finished with that, his nimble fingers caressed her skin, paling it more than it was already.

"You are taking her to that world first?"

The blond halted in the change at hearing his partner's question and looked at the taller male with a blank expression. For a moment, his piercing icy blue gaze observed the tall grass and blue sky above them but it was short lived.

"It's one of the first completed multiple lifespan modified timelines. It would buy us more time to finish the first drafts of other worlds and plots. Not to mention start to develop this world of her own." Gavin said simply, returning to the changing process.

Pale fingers danced across her eyelids, changing the color and hues as well. Other features such as fox appendages like ears, claws and tails and markings across her face and some of her body formed with the touches before disappearing.

"Don't hog our Creator! She's mine too!"

 _For someone so intelligent and cunning, he can be quite a psychotic man-child at times_ , Gavin thought with some disapproval.

"I am not hogging her. You are covered with blood still." Gavin pointed out in a matter of fact manner. "I don't want her to be sullied with the blood of those who betrayed her."

Royce looked down at his body and grimaced at how truthful those words are. "I'll go bath in a river or something."

"There are no sources of water existing here yet," he reminded the man, purposefully making him angry.

As he predicted, the emotional short tempered being growled in frustration and smothered rage. "Then I'll make some sources!"

The older of the two watched as the younger stomped off, shaking his head at the being's folly.

Finishing up the change, he brushed stray pieces of white hair away from her face and vanished once more in a multitude of butterflies.

Royce spotted the butterflies as he completed the first steps in creating different water sources and cursed heavily.

"You liar!"

-

Sakuya Uchiha was born on July 23rd, a fact that would haunt her for years to come since it connected her to a well loved canon character known as the Lord of Ducks or The Sauce in certain fan circles. After twelve hours of labor the little girl was handed to her panting mother who took the child in a shaky grasp with a tired smile as the infant tried to look around the place. She didn't cry or make any sound but instead seemed to take in everything calmly and serenely even if that should be impossible.

 _What happened?_ She thought with some difficulty. Her mind felt foggy and it was hard to think at all. Flashes of the moments leading to her current state passed through her mind and she felt queasy. _I died?_

A polite, slightly warm and more than a little distracted voice echoed in her mind. **"You did. As such you can never return to your reality or real world. Even if you wanted to, that is. Are you upset?"**

 _"I just died! Of course I'm upset."_ She stated within her mind. _"Even someone like me who doesn't particular cared if she lived or died can be upset in the manner it happened!"_

The new mother was worried at the lack of response so she brought the child to her chest to be fed.

Much to the newborn's horror, her body resisted the mental commands to stop and proceeded to suck at the breast while her mind was aware of everything.

A part of her soul was dying from this she was certain.

After about ten minutes, and the action finally stopped, the screen doors were opened and closed quickly as to not let in any damp air as it was bad for the newborn. Two adults and two young boys entered the room and the newborn tried to focus on their appearances and ignore the growing dread she felt.

She looked at the only real out of place person first in wonder.

_Why is there an Uzumaki here?!_

The man was indeed an Uzumaki, a pureblood at that judging from the feel about him, and he had long dark red hair that reached the middle of his back though some of it was pulled up into a half-hearted ponytail. He had large, dark pupiless eyes that reminded her of Mito for whatever reason.

A dark suspicion grew in her heart and she thought of the first thing that could answer her questions.

**"Yes, that is your father, Hisato Uzumaki. Your mother is the non canon character Koria Uchiha, a eighteen year old young lady and the oldest surviving child of Tajima Uchiha. "**

" _What the hell do you two idiots want me to accomplish by giving me such a chuunibyou setting for my lineage alone?"_ Sakuya mentally cried out in shock.

**"We are not letting you die on us or even stay dead. Giving you great powers, unstoppable potential, and other benefits would only improve your chances of surviving and thriving."**

That was far more realistic and thoughtful than she was expecting.

Than again she half believed this was a dream...if it wasn't for the fact she knew she died.

"You are safe and you are not alone." Gavin reassured.  
Her father smiled happily at both the mother and baby and the child turned to the other adult and frowned deeply. Well, as deeply as she could.

The second man was much older than the Uzumaki or mother, but who knows with Uzumaki ages. He had dark eyes and hair. His hair was shaved in the back and framed a gaunt looking face which was further accentuated by his mouth which naturally curled upwards. He was dressed casually in black pants, black sandals and a dark blue top with a high collar.

_It can't be... Tajima?! Shit, Gavin wasn't lying about her being related to them. That means this is before the villages were formed and everyone is warring._

The high collar was too familiar for her liking, but the child moved on to the youngest boy who was about three. He looked vaguely like Sasuke Uchiha and that was when she knew she was fucked.

_Sweet baby Jesus... It's Izuna! He's so cute!_

The boy was fair skinned with black hair hich was spiky in the back and had a blue tint to it. His bangs parted down the centre of his face to frame both sides of it. He wore a dark child's robe with a high collar that would no doubt have the Uchiha clan crest on the back.

With great reluctance, she turned to the final person. The man, the legend, the god mode of all god mode characters of the series, was a five old kid and allegedly her direct relative.

_End me now, thanks._

Madara, because it had to be Madara Uchiha, was a fair skinned boy with spiky, black hair that had a slight blue tint to it just like his younger brother. His hair was chin length and parted to frame the sides of his face. He was wearing a blue long sleeve shirt and white pants.

"Is the child healthy, Koria?" the man asked looking at the infant who definitely did not look like a normal Uzumaki clan member or a member of his clan. She was a fair bit lighter in skin tone than either clan, had large cunning and intelligent dark red eyes that almost looked like the red of the Sharingan, and wild pure white hair.

"Yes, father. She is an albino but doesn't seem to have any problems so far with her chakra or anything. She is bigger than either Madara or Izuna were when they were born and is strong," she said truthfully as the little girl in the dark blue blanket was a little different from the others but that was fine.

 _"An albino Uchiha?_ " At getting no response from her mental cry, she repeated her words with a shocked desperation for answers. _"An Albino Uchiha?!"_

 **"Half-Uchiha and Half-Uzumaki actually,"** Gavin corrected.

Rage seemed to flow through her veins like blood and the urge to scream was growing by the moment. _"Oh, sorry for getting my hellish bloodlines wrong! Not like anything bad would come from being part_

_Uchiha, part Uzumaki while being a thrice damned paled skinned, white haired, red eyed girl!"_

"Exactly!" Gavin said cheerfully. "It's the best options in appearance available at that time."

She had been reduced to mentally screeching in gibberish at this oblivious entity.

Madara didn't take his full attention away from the new born the entire time, something she noticed was unnatural once she was rational enough to focus on her surroundings. His gaze was darker than normal in some terrible thought train and she somehow knew that this was not a child just like she was was not a new born. She looked into him then through him, and felt an ungodly amount of power and force along with images of what happened in the original timeline. Or a severely changed one.

Madara blinked as if suspecting his mask was falling and acted like a normal child. "It's a girl, right?" he asked haughtily.

"Yes, and she'll be your niece, Madara," the eighteen year old Koria answered not paying attention to the tone of her brother as she was too busy with her little bundle of joy.

Said bundle was too busy staring at one of her favorite characters, former characters rather, and silently promising to find some way to break him for the insult he was about to say.

"Whatever! It's a stupid girl and I don't want to take any responsibility for her!" He snapped and put his nose in the air.

_You fucking bastard! I will make you rue the day you have ever thought of insulting me! I will break your bones, crush your spirit, and violate your mind for this mockery of my being!_

The younger brother on the other hand looked at the infant curiously. "What's her name?" Izuna asked as the little girl continued to gurgle small bubbles from her small mouth.

What no one guessed was those small bubbles were filled with curses and promises to destroy them all with the fiery intensity of her unholy rage. Well, just Madara if one wanted to be technical. Maybe her grandfather too at the odd looks she was getting from him counted.

"Sakuya. That's the name we picked," the Uzumaki said as he walked over to the two and smiled down at them.

Koria held her baby toward the Uzumaki, and the baby, Sakuya she reminded herself, I am Sakuya Uchiha, and smiled at him. "Isn't she beautiful, Hisato?"

He nodded happily and Koria handed Sakuya over to Tajima Uchiha when he approached. "She feels like she could be quite powerful and she is perfectly fine." Tajima said as he held his first grandchild in his hands.

Sakuya wished she had enough motor control to flick him off.

"Father, can I see Sakuya?" Izuna asked, tugging at his father's robes for emphasis.

Tajima leaned down so that his youngest child could see the blinking girl.

_I have nothing against you Izuna but if you piss me off, I'm adding your name right after Maddie-hime's name on my blacklist._

"Sakuya is so cute!"

Izuna laughed and poked her cheek so the girl shifted her eyes to him curiously. Or that was what it looked like to other's. Inside she was simply staring at him in a blank way and mentally saying, "Thank you for that riveting judgement of my appearance."

Izuna and his new obsession with cute things was still better than Madara who she wanted to choke to death right now.

_Speaking of Madara..._

Madara looked at Sakuya as her eyes shifted to him and watched as she feebly reached her hand out to him. A small sob exited her lips as she was ignored, by the one other who was not what they seemed. To everyone else she looked like she felt the rejection and suffered from it.

Madara grimaced at his rude display and genuinely seemed saddened by what he did to her.

_Please, do not cry anymore. I am sorry!_

  
_That was all it took to change his mind,_ Madara realized painfully a millisecond after his loving thought.

Sakuya's tears were not due to being rejected but because her new body was no where near strong enough to strangle him to death and she was frustrated from that.

_I will smother you to death with my own hate and wrath that makes Kurama seem like a chipper person. I will force you to your knees and acknowledge my power you idiotic fool._

  
"I wanna hold her," Madara said sharply.

"Did you not just say you didn't want any responsibility of her?" Koria asked so dryly that her little brother flushed in embarrassment.

"I changed my mind! She's my apprentice now, even if she's a girl!" Madara insisted as his father gave the newborn to his son. Tajima watched them with an odd fascination as his usually ill-tempered and haughty son seemed to mellow as he got to hold the child by himself who ceased her sobbing.

_How can my intense liking for you turn into a downward spiral so soon? Whatever, you will know my wrath._

Madara continued to stare at the dark red eyes, looking right back into his own and smiled at her and a certainty gripped his life-course.

Sakuya mentally frowned as the dark emotions in his eyes cleared up, revealing a strange softness and determination toward something. Something that had to do with her.

_Don't involve me in whatever you are scheming!_

Sakuya Uchiha, the daughter of his older sister and Hisato Uzumaki was his in the sense that he would make her belong to him. Failing that, he would teach her, make her stronger than anyone else other than himself of course, and would protect her should the worse happen.

Sakuya had a bad feeling in her guts, and it wasn't from what she thought was chakra all around her either. She played enough otome games and dating simulations which helped her with analysing people to know what to expect in certain situations, and judging from Madara's sudden change of opinion of her she had triggered some type of flag event and she wanted out of this fucked up family.

Sakuya always pictured the fact that if Madara let go of his No Homo love and/or rivalry for Hashirama and actually fell in love, deep love and affection and not superficial stuff, he would do anything to protect them. The signs were all there with Izuna and how far he went to keep him alive and once Izuna was dead he snapped completely.  
In other words, Madara had all the makings of a Yandere.  
  
_Wonderful,_ she thought. Determination flooded her tiny body at the realization and she smiled happily. _I'm going to milk this environment and world for all it's worth. I will live my second life to it's fullest!"_

-

"We must let your sister and Hisato rest and bond with their new daughter," Tajima said and put a hand on Madara's shoulder as he kept looking at the girl.

Madara was reluctant to let Sakuya go, but managed to when he thought that now that she was alive, she would not be going anywhere anytime soon. Even in the future she wouldn't leave for good and on the off chance she died, Madara would drag her back from whatever afterlife she went to and made sure she stayed safe and with the living. With him.

Had Sakuya known what was going through the boy's mind, she would have cried and yelled, if at all possible, "I hate this family."

Madara frowned deeply as he handed Sakuya over to his sister who took the newborn gratefully. "You're holding her wrong," he pointed out.

"No, I'm not," Koria argued back holding the child to her bosom, but the tone of her voice told her brother that she was more than tired.

Madara grunted in response, the iconic Uchiha sound meaning anything at that moment.

Sakuya liked to think it was describing how attractive Hashirama was and any other shipping type of nonsense just to mess with him.

 **"You are definitely going to raise hell for everyone."** Royce stated with confidence.

"At least put her in a crib. If you roll on top of her during the night, she'll be as flat as a pancake!" Madara said sourly but wasn't there to hear his older sisters curse when their father grabbed him by the ear and hauled him away.

Sakuya snickered in her mind at the boy pouting for not getting his own way.

As the doors closed, Koria and Hisato looked at Sakuya who was nearly falling asleep and both of them gave her a smile laced with love and adoration at the fullest.

"You have no idea how much we'll always love you and support anything you choose to do," Koria whispered, putting her lips to the small head of the child who let out a small sound of comfort and put her small fist in her mother's long black hair.

_So, if I went nuts, killed Madara, trolled Tobirama and generally set the world on fire, you would still love and support me? Great to know._

Koria stared at her child as Hisato helped to place her in the crib after removing her from her mother and couldn't help the tears forming in her eyes at the relief of having a relatively healthy baby girl. She had always feared that her somewhat frail body, an effect of a mission going wrong and being severely poisoned which weakened her shortly before she found out she was pregnant, would make her have a miscarriage or the little girl would be stillborn. Seeing her so healthy, even if the colors were bleached out on her skin and hair, leaving her dark red eyes and pale lips as having more color than normal, was a relief.

Even her remaining younger brothers, who had always thought of Koria with a sour tone as she had acted as a mother for them when theirs died when Izuna was a year old saw her concern and worry and promised both of them that they would be there for the child no matter what.

That had accumulated into an argument over who was going to teach the child what, as they thought it was going to be a boy. But it still warmed her heart that they would care for her so much.

The sleepy Sakuya couldn't help but wonder if that was the end of the unwanted introspective monologue her mother was going through and reminded herself she was in Naruto where half the plot was based on flashbacks and competing with each other over who has the worst back story.

  
_I swear, this world runs off of metaphors, monologues, and whose backstory is more fucked up. And there's always a new reveal of intentions or thoughts. Always._

  
If Sakuya was honest though, she was curious to see the visual representation of 'Bad Time' in the Naruto universe first hand.

  
Hisato placed his child in her crib underneath the dark blue blankets and Sakuya gurgled softly before finally falling asleep. The new father turned to Koria and asked if she wanted him to sleep elsewhere that night. She nodded, since the bed needed to be cleaned tomorrow, and Hisato left the main bedroom of their wing and entered the living room to sleep on the couch. Koria on the other hand kept looking at her child with love until she couldn't keep herself awake anymore and fell asleep.

-

Around eight or nine in the morning, the screen door was pulled aside softly as to not wake Koria who had fallen asleep only a few hours ago. Closing it quickly to not let in a draft, Madara walked on the edge of the room to not create any sounds as he walked carefully over to the crib. Peering over, Madara's expression of concentration softened when he saw the sleeping girl on her stomach.

  
Madara touched her chubby face with a newfound softness in his gaze as the little girl made no noise. Anxiety crept up on him, so his hands felt her heart to make sure she was alive, and let out a breath of relief when he felt it beat under his fingers.

  
_You better not be touching my non-existent breasts, or I will rip you apart,_ Sakuya thought as her consciousness returned to her.

  
She was so small and soft, Madara thought, wishing to pick her up and put her face to his.

  
But as he stood there, Koria had woken up at once as she heard the doors open, but being a trained kunoichi with a full Sharingan this was expected of her. As she listened to her brother's movements, she felt a sleepy smile curve on her lips. She always knew Madara could be a bit of a softy, even if he had made his first kill at a very tender age did not change the fact that Sakuya had melted his hard demeanor.  
Madara continued to stroke the sleeping face with gentle caresses and when the dark red eyes stared up at him with such intense and fiery emotions that looked out of place on a small child, his heart sped up in excitement.

  
His affection, though unwanted, would spiral into surprising and horrifying ways as the years passed. For right then, it was normal and peaceful.

  
When Sakuya started to voice her complaints with a small whimper, Madara was quick to pick the child up as he could justify his action should anyone ask. The boy pressed his cheek to hers while shushing her softly. The baby made a noise when Madara pressed his lips to her forehead.

  
_I need acid, a bottle of brain bleach and I would love to go blind now._

  
**"Not even we can undo that,"** Gavin uttered, his voice low and sorrowful. **"My apologies, Creator."**

  
"Did that just happen or have you progressed in your genjutsu training, Madara?" Koria asked softly from her bed as she looked at the scene.

  
Turning around as quickly as he dared with Sakuya still in his arms, Madara ground his teeth in frustration at the knowing smile Koria was giving him.

  
"She's hungry," he said flatly making Koria raise her eyebrow at him.

  
"Well, let me take her," she said and sat up of the futon.

  
Again, Madara wanted to tell his older sister that, no, she was staying here with him. But, not wanting to be called a softie, he walked carefully over to his sister and kneeled beside her while she took her daughter into her arms and shrugged of her yukata.

  
"Have some modesty, Nee-chan!" Madara gagged, turning his pink face away from his older sister who smirked.

"You're my little brother. We used to take baths together you and me, when you couldn't swim," she taunted as the little girl sucked softly, much to her horror.

  
Turning from pink to red, Madara was about to yell but as he had drawn breath, he saw his niece and snapped his mouth shut. "S-Shut up! You're so stupid!"

  
"Whatever you say, Maddie. Now be a dear and get Sakuya's one-piece for me," she said, still smirking at her brother who got up with a muttered curse and went for the little closet with the unused baby clothes. Picking out a dark blue one padded with fleece and the Uchiha fan on the back, he put it beside Koria as she was now done feeding her daughter.

  
After the burping part and the changing part, Koria held the baby close to her with a soft smile.

  
_"Why is this happening to me?"_ Sakuya asked Gavin.

  
**"You accepted the offer, Creator. A new life, and a second chance. You couldn't return to the real world anyway, but I am still sorry it started this way."**

  
_"Why the Warring States Era?"_

**"It was the earliest starting point for your side of events, even if it's not necessary true for the other players native to this universe."**

  
Sakuya really hated her rare and intense impulses. She really did.

  
"Big sister," Madara began. His eyes were focused on Sakuya and were oddly emotional for the boy. The affection on the surface was only the tip of the iceberg, and the boy was confused by what was going on. Even his adult mind trapped in this childish form was lost and confused.

  
Koria hummed back, not taking her eyes of Sakuya who was staring at the boy with an intense and intimidating gaze for a newborn.

  
"When she grows up, can I be her favorite uncle?" Madara asked.

_Oh, hell no! Now I'm really going to hang out with Izuna more, just to spite you._

  
Koria chuckled and gave her brother a disbelieving look. "That's not really up to me, now is it? You'll have to earn a place in her heart for that," she explained.

  
"But what if she comes to love someone more than our family? What if she is taken away from us? What if she is led astray and kidnapped by someone who will break her heart?" Madara asked with a grimace now.

  
Sighing, Koria looked as Sakuya had opened her large dark red eyes and stared at her mother as if to ask what was wrong with her uncle now.

  
Now, because there is a goddamned laundry list of things wrong with the man or boy... Whatever the fuck he is.

  
"We'll have to wait to see how she turns out, but I highly doubt she would allow herself to be kidnapped or be used in such a way. She will be joining our ninja ranks and I know she will be very strong and fierce enough to escape anything like that," she said to calm her brother.

  
"Well, she's my apprentice so I'll make her stronger than anyone else and Izuna will help too," he boasted with a huff.

  
Reaching her slender hand out, Koria rubbed her brother's spiky head with a smile as the boy pushed the hand away with a sour pout.

  
"Of course, I'm counting on you two to be there for her," she said and at this, even though it was rare, Madara smiled at his sister.

  
"I promise, Koria," he said softly and stroke the infant's cheek. His eyes were filled with far too much knowledge for a small child, and he knew he had to make sure to keep his promise not just to his 'sister' but with people who set him up like this after his death in that altered timeline. The promise in an exchange for a second chance.

-

A few days later, Madara and Izuna were asked to spend some time with Sakuya while Koria and Hisato dealt with talking and setting up plans for their daughter. It wasn't much more than the two boys were already doing since her birth, but still they took great care with their task.

  
Madara plopped down on the soft carpet with Sakuya in his arms as he rocked her gently, sending her into a lulled state of mind.

  
_"Can't we skip this part? You can give me a recap!"_

  
Royce's laughter was her answer.

  
"Sakuya's so pretty even if she looks a little odd," Izuna said sitting opposite of Madara.

  
Madara frowned in thought, his child act falling as he considered the reason on why that might be.

  
"Koria was adversely affected by the experimental poisons that were used on her a few missions before she became pregnant with Sakuya. While Hisato was able to extract a lot of the poison, and make the remaining traces harmless, it had affected her immune system." Madara stated his belief as he gently stroked her pale cheeks. "It's a miracle she is even alive."

  
_Mother did look paler than she expected someone to be after giving birth,_ Sakuya thought to herself. _So poison had weakened her body to the point that they feared I would be a miscarriage?_

**"You seem to be accepting this whole dying then being reborn thing rather well. Calling Koria mother, Hisato father, Izuna uncle and Tajima grandfather so easily. Madara is left out."** Gavin pointed out.

  
" _I don't have much of an alternative,"_ Sakuya shot back. Her voice was sad and hesitant as she continued. _"Besides, this family is the first time I had ever felt such warmth. Is it so wrong for me to want to indulge myself with it?"_

  
Gavin was more formal than normal as he apologized. **"No, there is nothing wrong with that. Forgive me, Creator for bringing up the past."**

  
Madara speaking up again, pulled her away from the conversation.

  
"Well, she is related to us so of course Sakuya would be stronger and fight for her life," Izuna said proudly with a smirk as Madara returned a similar smirk.

  
"Of course, and she's my apprentice!" Madara said, returning to speech and actions better suiting his apparent age.

  
"Nu-uh!" Izuna interjected quickly.

  
Madara sneered at his brother as if this was a challenge over who the child in his arms would prefer between the two of them.

  
"Yu-huh! Koria said so!" Madara argued back and made an emphasis by holding the child closer. Sakuya, or at least her body, liked the warmth from him and grabbed some of his shirt in her tiny fists, to her horror, and let out a small sound of terror that could have been thought to be something else entirely. "See! Sakuya doesn't want to leave me for you," Madara said haughtily and looked at the small child who looked passionately up at him.

  
The passion was blood lust and she wanted to beat him up but no one asked her for the meaning of the passion.

  
Izuna glared hard at him and let it be for now as Koria would get angry if they made her daughter cry. Watching with thin eyes how his older brother lavished their little niece in affection made Izuna smirk at him.

  
"You look like a girl treating her with such gentle care like that," he taunted making his older brother snap his attention to him.

  
"You're just jealous, now shut up! Sakuya is about to go to sleep," Madara hissed and held the child up so his lips reached her small forehead. He would come up with a fitting insult later on.

  
_I would trade the entire Uchiha clan's collective Sharingans for some type of wipe that would cleanse this foul feeling off of me,_ Sakuya thought but once more no one asked and she couldn't answer.

  
**"Why do I have the feeling there is going to be more than one Uchiha clan massacre in the future?"** Royce commented in an idle manner.

  
"Sweet dreams, Sakuya," Madara whispered softly as the infant closed her large red eyes with a small grunt, trying to escape this hell for the realm of dreams.

  
"I'm as much of an uncle as you are! You can't hog her like that," Izuna protested quietly as Madara tucked the sleeping girl in the crook of his arm.

  
After having everything he ever loved taken from him repeatedly and being betrayed, Madara felt he was justified in wanting to protect the last chance he had.

  
"I can do whatever I want with her. Sakuya is mine," Madara suddenly said in a voice so serious and filled with many emotions that Izuna blinked his black eyes in confusion at both the tone and the darkness of his voice.

  
"She's not a kitten," Izuna tried to argue, but Madara glared at his brother yet again.

  
Madara realized his slip-up and knew it bothered his 'brother', and then the faint sadness that he was taking the place of the 'real' Madara of this world returned but he pushed that aside. He couldn't dwell on such things. It would hurt him enough to see his brother go through the same hell again, but maybe this child would give a better ending for them both.

  
"But she is mine. She will always be as such because I'm the one who-" Madara's words faltered as a pink blush rose in his cheeks upon realizing how that could be taken.

  
Cocking his head to the side, Izuna thought the sentence over again and again and then smirked broadly upon realizing how it could be taken. "You like Sakuya-hime!" He teased his older brother who grimaced but settled on shushing his brother.

  
I need her alive, trained and healthy so I can truly have my second life, Madara mentally countered. Nothing more, nothing less.

  
"Shut up you twit! She just went to sleep!" Madara whispered harshly as Izuna muffled his laughter at the red face of his older brother who turned his attention back to Sakuya. "I can't have you mess up my apprentice at an early age," he reprimanded his brother who suddenly grew testy again.

  
"I want to help train her too!" Izuna demanded.

  
"Ok, fine. You can help me train her when she becomes older," he said with a single roll of his black eyes. Settling on the matter in the warm living room, Izuna was called by one of the instructors and so left Madara alone with his little niece.

  
"You make it really hard for me, Sakuya," Madara murmured quietly and stroke the tuft of white hair on her little head. It really was hard keeping up the childish act for his age since she came around, and Madara knew that was his target to find and train. "I don't really like any girls." He never gave much thought to the female half of the human race in his original life and a good amount of that timeline (before it was altered completely at least) as anything more than unwanted diversions or being too weak to live. This girl was the complete opposite of weakness and he felt her hidden potential and obvious strength so easily. She could never be like those people. "They're all so stupid and weak, but you'll be different," Madara promised her in a smoldering warm voice as the child kept her eyes closed in sleep and with a pale hand still hanging on to his dark blue shirt.

  
Madara felt his heart beat faster at the sight at the little girl, a fact that disturbed the man he truly was greatly, and thought about how he had been the first to check on her when she had screamed in what seemed to be night terrors as impossible as it seemed the first night. Koria, Hisato and his father had been annoyed but he didn't really care. It had just been an instinct to react at her screaming and that only intrigued him on why. Madara had been worried if something had been gone wrong with the rebirthing process. Even if it wasn't, he wouldn't allow anything that he hadn't approved of personally to happen to her now that she was around. If he had his way, the crib would be in his room. And the boy decided right then and there that that would be a reality. Only out of security and making sure she was alive so he could get his true powers back along with his second chance, of course.

  
He liked the smell of her, as disturbing as that was to admit. She smelled like deep forests where monsters and dark things lurk, the scent of fire on a gentle breeze, and underneath it all was the subtle touch of blood. The last was so hidden that it took him by surprise when he smelled it for the first time and when he learned it was a natural scent for her, he was curious.  
It was a known fact, or at least was one to him, that those who killed countless people and were covered with their blood, would events have their natural scent affected. The scent of blood would linger beneath it all, but to have a new born have that kind of scent was unheard of.  
It intrigued him.

  
He liked her dark red eyes and the way he saw bottomless potential in them. The dark red lightly glowing form of the Sharingan was lighter than her brilliant eyes. So dark were they with emotions a newborn is not supposed to be able to feel or process, that even the bloodiest battlefield failed to match the color exactly.  
Her white hair was similar to that bastard Tobirama's hair, and even her eyes were a bit alike but on her it was more than tolerable. It felt right. Tobirama's eyes were always too shifty and were a dull hue. Nothing like hers.

  
Madara groaned as he realized just how long he had been overanalyzing this strange girl. The man he made the deal with did jokingly call the effect she had on people as the Protagonist's Aura, and as messed up as it sounded, it was accurate to how she affected others.

  
Looking around the room, he made sure in a paranoid way that no one would hear his words to his niece, to his cage and warden alike if what they said was true, as it would always be between them in the warmth of the living room and in the arms of a loved one.

  
"I fear that I could learn to love you, Sakuya. Love you, as much or even more as my Izuna. That is never a good thing for one of our clan, little one."


	2. Critical Failure

  
_**Having Abandoned My Search For Truth, I Am Now Looking For A Good Fantasy** _

-

Gavin had returned to the relatively lifeless world sometime during the first year of life and noticed quite a bit of changes to it already. Forests of all types littered the environment. Mountains and volcanos were seen towering over the lands. Deserts with sand covered ruins dotted some sections of the changed landscapes. Rivers, waterfalls and streams winded down toward lakes and oceans.

That was where he found his fellow servitor, busily building a massive city that blended traditional Japanese style houses with modern Western buildings. The heart of it, where the temples, shrines, the wheel shaped compound and high ranking families would live and work was where he was at. It was about a mile or so away from the shoreline, but the scent of the sea mixed with the thick woods surrounding the heart was purifying in a way.

"I see you are hard at work for a change," Gavin stoically said as he stopped near where Royce was designing the various tunnel and basement levels of the wheel.

The red haired man was unable to be seen but his voice had echoed up from the stone staircase into the dark hole. "Screw you, Gavin. I'm the one doing all the heavy lifting and modifying the story and plot of things while you are just her damned narrator."

A faint twinge of his lips at the redheads misery was all the physical sign of his pleasure. "If you didn't fail in watching over her, we wouldn't be having this problem. All of this would have been set up by the time she would have-"

Royce's insane laughter echoed up toward the blond before abruptly stopping. "Are you going to help me or just stand there and do nothing?"

"I'll stand here and do nothing."

"I really do hate you sometimes."

-

Sakuya Uchiha had come to the bitter realization that infantile amnesia only works out if you don't actually have the mental capacity to remember things.

After that little fact, she was investigating the world around her with more curiosity and understanding. The world of game she was 'born' into had her chuunibyou setting as some Uchiha-Uzumaki hybrid during the Warring States Era of the Naruto universe.

 _What the actual hell wasn't wrong with that?_ Sakuya could only hope she wouldn't be overpowered as hell, but with her kin at the heart of the problem and being the niece of Madara Uchiha, the best she could hope for was just to survive day after day.

And the fact that other than somehow knowing she had a limitless or seemingly limitless amount of chakra at her disposal, she couldn't sense the internal chakra circulatory system at all. In all the fanfictions she read, and all the episodes she watched and manga chapters she read, they went into describing the sensation to some degree. But inside her where the chakra system should be, there was nothing. There was a void, an moving or shifting mass of darkness and shadows that emitted pure raw power but nothing more or less than that.

If something had happened in utero, like what Sakuya now suspected happened with Rock Lee and possibly Might Duy, Sakuya would be permanently crippled as far as chakra went.

 **"We removed your any and all organs that could be injured or harmed from you upon your death. The dark mass of energy is your energy and chakra, and can be brought into the real world. Think of it as a tool to help you learn how to use your powers and abilities."** Gavin explained.

Sakuya blinked, gaping in a dull horror at that reveal. _"You removed my heart, lungs, stomach... Everything?! How the hell do I eat? Or crap?"_

**"Whatever you consume is broken down to raw energy upon passing the throat. As such there is no need for waste byproducts and that has been removed as well. I have been turning people's attention away from this inhuman act since your birth."**

_"My thanks,"_ she said sarcastically.

The dark mass of energy felt like chakra, like she felt in the air and on other people and things, but it was also some new, something ancient and it bothered her.

As long as it allowed her to do magical ninja bullshit, she didn't care. If she had to suffer the fate of being of such a messed up lineage, and who knows what else, she is going to use every single jutsu she knew for whatever her freaking chakra natures were and to hell with everyone and everything that tried to control or screw her over.

Sakuya was glad that she started walking within six months. Naturally, she went to Izuna first, which pissed off Madara for whatever reason and therefore it was hilarious to see. Her first word at seven months was "Mada", an attempt to lower his ire and it seemed to work at the slight blush and proud smile on his face. Then, and only then did she move on to "Izu", "Mama", "Dada", and "Papa" for Tajima.

Sakuya was almost relieved that she didn't have any control over her body at this age. She could at least justify the memories of needing an physical adult's or her two uncles help for everything as being due to true helplessness. Sakuya's memories of that time period were about as detailed as if she'd been an actual adult, but the sheer boredom means even her not-quite-physical adult brain and memories sort of lets it all bleed together. Out of the span of the first year of life, Sakuya got a deep need to be in control of everything she could, to never be helpless again, and a fierce love for her parents and family for putting up with her bullshit for so long.

And a very strong conviction never to have children of her own, but that's not exactly new for her. The universes truly did not need any more sarcastic asshole demon spawn running around. Besides, she was still high-key terrified by the idea of being solely or jointly responsible for the future survival and happiness of another human being.

The months Sakuya spent with her parents, along side Gavin's in-depth analysis of them, gave her great insight into her new parents.  
Koria was ill or poisoned or something, with the poison allegedly having been rendered virtually harmless. Sakuya didn't seem to suffer anything negative due to that condition of her mother's other than an odd allergic allergies of sorts to traditional medicine and conventional medical ninjutsu that her father used for the clan. Her own damage rejection took care of that pain much to her clan member's shock.

Actually, poison and anything harmful for normal humans seemed to boost her natural healing speed, which was unnatural and worrisome. Madara was actually the only one who didn't look unphased by anything she really did.

Apparently, that was something Gavin and Royce made sure she would have to make her more balanced. Regenerating from the worst wounds and even death itself, but being injured by healing things like she was some zombie in a jrpg that someone used a potion on.

Irony at it's finest.

Koria was a little thin and waiflike, but her eyes were dark and kind and her hair was a straight black curtain around her face. She was delicate in appearance, like a fairy or sprite, but Sakuya knew she was a formidable kunoichi. She was more diplomatic than her brothers, father and husband, and seemed to be in charge of the spying network and public relations positions for the clan. In spite of that, she was always around and had a genuine smile on her face.

Hisato seemed older than her nineteen years, but as said before, Uzumaki ages were hard to guess at the best of times, but Sakuya could easily place him in his early twenties to the middle of his twenties. He had a wider, more solid build compared to Koria and he still looked otherworldly like her but more like a demon from myth and legends than some fairy or even her own ghostly appearance. Despite the dark appearance of her father, he was a surprisingly gentle, boisterous man who mended the clan members, dealt with seals and took care of the dead of the clan that could be salvaged from the battle field. He was always happy, bright and talkative which was odd to see in the Uchiha clan.

And then there was Sakuya.

When she saw her reflection in the mirror for the first time, she noticed how her own appearance outdid her parents and set her apart from the rest of her clan. Hell, she looked like a genderbented Tobirama Senju to a point.

Sakuya was an albino like Tobirama, but that was where the similarities ended. Her hair wasn't straight like her parents but wild and fluffy like her two uncles even if it was as white as untainted snow. Her eyes were a mix of dark red all about the same hue with only slight changes to it, and seemed even darker than any Sharingan she saw in her present life or her memories of the series. She wasn't as pale as Orochimaru, thank goodness for small favors, but she was a bit paler than her Uchiha clan members.

Seeing her appearance like that forced her to understand that this was real and that the hell of the Warring States Era was about to hit everything. All she could do was trust in surviving another day and use whatever powers she had at her disposal.

At the end of the day, she had to either reject the second chance and be weak or abuse it for all it's worth and run roughshod over the world. Clearly she was going with the latter decision.

"I'm going to go to hell in so many different religions," Sakuya muttered, grinning in excitement.

Her right eye twitched at feeling her uncle Madara's chakra signature stop outside the door and he was laughing at something he heard. Her eye twitched again.

_Once again for the record, I hate this family._

  
-

"Sakuya-chan? What are you thinking so hard about?"

Sakuya blinked and turned to her father Hisato who smiled down at her with a fond grin. She looked around her and she refocused on her father.

"World domination!" She said in the cutest way she could.

Her father's dark eyes blinked repeatedly.

She blinked repeatedly.

Hisato picked her up and cuddled her. "My little girl's growing up so fast! Only a year old and already knowing what she wants to do in the future."

Sakuya giggled at her father's words and actions but was inwardly deadpanning.

_"Is he serious?"_

Gavin's soft, if a little sarcastic and witty, voice echoed in her skull as he answered her question truthfully. **"He is. Hisato is an overprotective and indulgent father, possibly due to how large his extended and immediate family was. As the oldest child of the clan head family, he was raised to be the next clan head. Until..."**

_"Until what?"_

**"Ask him."**

Sakuya pouted before poking her father's cheek. "Daddy? I have a question!"

She made her words more childish and broken to reduce chance of anyone freaking out about a talking one year old with the sentence structure and word count of an adult.

Hisato hummed in thought, looking down at her with such a deep love and affection her throat went dry. Her original father was just like him toward her...and if he was alive she wouldn't have been so utterly warped.

"What is it Saku?"

"Why is Daddy here?"

Hisato had a slight frown and his eyes darkened a little as he asked, "Do you mean how I came to live here?"

Sakuya nodded her head sheepishly, doing her best to appear innocent in her wonderings.

Her father looked to the side in thought for a few minutes. Once he came to a decision he looked down into her face and smiled in an apologetic manner. His slasher smile was small and awkward. "You're a little too young to know the finer details, my little princess. I can tell you the short version for now."

She pouted and crossed her arms. "Tell me everything when I become older, daddy. Promise me you will!"

Hisato laughed at her stubbornness and nodded his head happily. "Fine. I promise to tell you after you become a proper ninja, little one."

The Uzumaki kissed her forehead before hugging her tighter to him as if he was worried about something.

"I have been banished from the Uzumaki clan entirely. I can never see my family again since in the eyes of the Uzumaki, I am now a criminal even if I am innocent. I found your mother and one of your unfortunately deceased uncles severely wounded and healed her as best I could. They took me in, and I've lived here ever since."

His voice was uncaring at the admittance of being framed, and that more than anything else burned her from within.

Sakuya reached up as best as she could to hold her father's face with her tiny hands and gave him a dead serious stare. It was a look that should never be on a child this age.

She dropped all childish pretenses as she said, "You are not a criminal, daddy. You were framed and did nothing wrong. If anything, the Uzumaki clan were wrong to do such a thing." She cuddled his face as he leaned it into her touch. "I love you, daddy."

Hisato smiled weakly down at her as he rubbed his face gently against hers. "I love you too, my precious one."

During this cuddling session, flashes of blue were seen around their bodies. As discreetly as she could, Sakuya followed it with her gaze and finally realized what it was with great alarm.

_How can I see that? How is it possible to even exist?_

A bright blue spherical flame with an elongated tail floated around their bodies.

Sakuya knew enough about mythology, read enough manga and seen enough anime to know what it was on sight.

It was a hitodama, or the manifestation of another's soul or essence of you wanted to not be religious about it.

On reflex, she grabbed it when it neared her again and cradled it. The fate she could see it at all shook her to the point of her touching it went unquestioned.

Images, memories, imprints of pain and lingering thoughts flooded her mind with such intensity she nearly dropped the soul.

The soul belonged to a teenager, her cousin, by the name of Kurumi. She had apparently been killed with a few dozen deep sword strikes. The blows also damaged her knees, elbows and wrists to force the prideful young woman to the ground. Before she could die, she was rescued and brought here where her father attempted to save her.

"In all my years of seeing souls and other phenomenon, I have never been able to even touch them," Hisato said in a strange tone of voice.

"Hey Daddy? Can you take me to Kurumi's body?" Sakuya asked.  
She had something she wanted to try out.

-

Kurumi looked like hell. Her legs and arms were cut in such a way that it would prevent her from ever fighting or moving around easily again even if she survived, and the obnoxiously shiny white armor she wore was tossed aside on the ground. It had to be torn into pieces to even get near the body to heal it, and was dented in places that hinted at internal injuries.

Her proud face was sneering even in death.

Still, Sakuya wanted to try.

Madara had followed after them, curious on what she was planning.

Hisato brought her closer to the body until she could push the soul back in the body. Sakuya did so with great pleasure as Kurumi was a little bitch who thought she was better than others.

A dull light encompassed the teenagers body as the soul entered the cold flesh, revitalizing the body and restarting the organs while breathing new life into it.

There was some minor backlash on Sakuya's body to heal the internal injuries and the major wounds on the teenagers arms and legs, but it was swiftly rejected. The only traces it had happened was the blood staining her previously clean clothes in the same areas.

Kurumi's black eyes opened, full of pain and disorientation.

"I’m not dead, surprisingly." She said in a hoarse tone.

Sakuya shook her head. "No, you are. I haven’t finished resurrecting you yet. Hold still."

Kurumi huffed. "You dare tell me what to-"

The teenager collapsed, eyes vacant and body relaxed. Sakuya gave Madara a fleeting nod of thanks, which he returned, before refocusing on her first resurrection.

-

It was slow going, but after another half hour, and a good amount of chakra exertion from her father, they had successfully managed to bring someone back to life without any issues. Well, no new ones.

There was no way in hell she was touching her pride and arrogance.

It was only after the procedure, and sitting down to drink some green tea that Sakuya realized she did something that was impossible. Not only did she see and touch a soul but she brought someone back to life.

Madara and her father were subdued, staring into their own cups and a tremble of uncertainty shook her tiny body.

"I will need to let Tajima-sama know what happened," Hisato muttered before turning to Madara who had been listening in on the conversation out in the hallway. "Can you watch Sakuya for me Madara?"

Madara emerged from the hallway and reluctantly nodded his head. "I don't mind. She's not that troublesome to deal with after all."

Sakuya narrowed her eyes at the boy. "I will get you back for this!"

Hisato handed her to the raven haired boy, and noticed the fleeting but fond smile on Madara's face. He knew that she would be safe with him and took his leave.

"How have you been Sakuya-hime?" Madara asked, a teasing element to his tone.

The two had long come to the same conclusion about each other: neither child was truly what they seemed. 

Madara was far too intelligent and insightful for a child of six but hid his mature or adult like decisions and thoughts behind a childish or his approximate age group act.

And she was speaking, thinking and walking near normally for an adult at one year old. That alone proved Sakuya Uchiha was not going to be anything less than a prodigy. The fact she was smart enough not to talk properly around most people and broke up her words into baby talk at times hinted at her understanding her current position.

"I'm doing fairly well Mada-hime," Sakuya replied with a small angelic smile.

That was another thing she learned about herself. Most of her natural smiles and grins were murderous serial killing expressions, rapefaces or just plain evil. The more polite, forced or faked versions were angelic and bewitching to behold.

Clearly, something went wrong with whoever designed her appearance.

Madara twitched at her nickname for him. "I'm not a girl, Sakuya-hime! Stop calling me a princess."

Sakuya raised an eyebrow, another achievement for her in general. "But my uncle is so pretty!"

Madara rolled his eyes. "Boys can't be pretty!"

"You have never seen a Trap or an effeminate male before then," Sakuya countered, once again indirectly hinting at possessing knowledge that one shouldn't know.

"One more remark like that and I'll drop you," Madara teased only to be glared at painfully.

"Drop me and they will never find your body."

Madara blinked then grinned down at her in amusement. "You would murder me then?"

"It's only murder if they find the body. Otherwise it's just a missing person," Sakuya explained seriously and it made the young boy actually laugh.

-

  
After that, the next three months were rather ordinary.

Sakuya was walking around and talking after she stopped caring about her extended family's reactions to that little show. Her mother and grandfather were often talking together as of late, no doubt about her potential and being able to adapt and learn so quickly. She had the feeling, chakra lessons were in her near future but she was way ahead of them there. 

Or at least she was figuring out how to feel and control the dark mass of shadows or whatever it was that was her version of energy and chakra.

Sakuya had the feeling that if a Hyuuga saw her non-existent chakra system and stared into the abyss, going mad or blind temporary would be the least of their issues.

Her father had been spending more time with her, giving her simple books on folklore and his own studies to pass the time.

Izuna was often around then as well, and of course Madara ruined everything by being nearby.

She was really starting to become worried that Madara was up to something. Which he always was, but that this ellusive something involved her and therefore she both wanted to know and didn't.

It was never a good thing to have the attention or gain the affection of a Pureblood Uchiha after all.

-

_This is not my bed._

That, was the first thought that went through her head as she awoke.

  
_I'm going to kill Madara for this. Somehow. He's likely at the heart of whatever this is._

The bed in question was fine. The bed was soft, warm, heck it even smelled nice, some type of cherries mixed with old forests and fresh linen; but it wasn't her bed. She didn't even try to open her eyes as she tried to process the situation. She laid in bed and felt around her for any sense of similarity. The reason she knew it wasn't her bed is because her bed was just a small one. The fact that she could touch the wall with her foot and her hand dangled down the other side means it's not her bed.

"I swear to everything if I open my eyes and see I'm in some locked basement I'm going to stab a bitch," she cursed before taking a deep breath and fluttered her eyes open.

Her sharp and improved sight, which was adjusting to the sunlight coming in from a window, was greeted by a wooden ceiling decorated with paintings and drawings of spirals, fans and spirits. 

She took in another deep breath and slowly traveled her eyes around the room. She found out that the bed was pushed towards the wall, the bottom part of the bed stopped right underneath the bottom of a overly large window.

The half of the window closest to her was shaded by the dark blue curtain that draped it, while the other half of the curtain was tied back letting in the sunlight. She turned her head and noticed a table on the floor in the middle of the room not too far away, as well as the table to her left, beside the bed that held a lamp and sundial clock. It was eight o'clock in the morning according to the antique clock. 

Beside the bedside table there was an empty space, then a big drawer with five handles in the middle. After the drawer there was a dip in the wall to form a nook around another window. There was a comfy sofa surrounding the nook, most likely a tiny reading nook.

The rooms square shape turned and on the wall there was a desk and then space for another five layered drawers. There was a door next which she presumed led to the rest of the house.

As the room turned again to the final wall, there were two rooms one which had no door, which she presumed was a walk in closet, then the final door must lead to a bathroom or connects to another room. In the middle of the two doors was a full length mirror that could probably be about five feet in height and two or three in length. As much as the room was nice and spacious, again it wasn't hers.

And that wasn't all to panic over, not that the Uzumaki spirals and Uchiha fans everywhere weren't enough to freak her the fuck out.

She had these red flag like feelings that something else wasn't right.

She swung her legs to the side of the bed and jumped out of it, having to balance herself for a moment as she landed later than predicted.

As she made her way to the mirror, that foreboding feeling came strong along with the fluttering of those anxious feelings. Walking across the room, all the furniture was bigger than she expected.

The mirror reflected back herself, except there was a bit of a timeskip. Gavin must have given into her desire to skip the normal baby issues entirely and moved on to toddler age.

The child of about three years old with vibrant, very observing and mischievous dark red eyes stared back. She stood with a large body for her age leaning forwards, tiny hands pressed against the mirror. She had short pure white hair that reached just passed her shoulders, with messy bangs and was in a natural wild and spiky manner. The child was undeniably cute. She wore her dark blue light sleepwear that reached her ankles, exposing her little toes that wiggled on the dark rugs experimentally. As she backed away from the mirror, so did the child in the mirror.

She ignored him and went about gathering clothes and heading to the bathroom where she quickly took a bath. By the time she was finished and clothed, she had caught the scent of breakfast cooking and headed that way.

She greeted Izuna with a quick hug in passing, waving at her father who grinned back and may or may not have used Madara's back as a trampoline to get into the main houses kitchen before he did. 

"Mommy did you see how nice I look today? I took a shower all by myself!" Sakuya said in a proud, child-like tone. 

"Yes I did, you look very nice and cute," Koria said with a soft smile.

Sakuya smiled back, though far more evilly, as she went to wash her hands.

"What are you doing?" Sakuya asked while tilting her head in a curious manner.

"I'm going to make breakfast and lunch for you since will be tested for your chakra nature today and then move on to basic jutsu."

_"I take it I bypassed all the boring chakra exercises or they just ignored it..."_

" **A bit of both. You don't need that nonsense anyway given what your so-called chakra is like,"** Gavin reassured.

"Mommy can I help?" She smiled down at her with a raised brow.

Sakuya held her breath in fear that Koria had caught onto her, but let it go when she crouched down.

"Sure, let's make everyone a nice breakfast." 

As time went by, they finally finished making breakfast and some light lunches for later.

"Okay, we're pretty much done now Sakuya. Why don't you help set the table?" 

Sakuya nodded as Koria held out some plates so she could set them on the table.

She went inside the nearby dining room and placed the plates in front of each chair. The girl then went back and got the cups, then the silver ware and napkins, making sure not to make much noise. When

Sakuya finished, she turned around to go back into the kitchen to see if she had other things to do when she saw Koria standing at the door way. Her mother looked at the table and then at her, and Sakuya had a terrible feeling as she looked back towards the table. Everything was placed down correctly and evenly spaced apart at the correct distance.

_Fuck you OCD! Why must you pop up at the oddest times?!_

"My little girl is growing up so fast! You will grow up to be a strong, smart woman!" Koria said while coming close enough to pick her up. 

"I want to be just like you! And Daddy, and Grandpa and uncle Izu and uncle Mada too!" Sakuya said to suck up to everyone nearby.

Koria laughed and twirled with the little girl in her arms.

"And why are my two precious people so cheerful?" Hisato asked as he saw the two of playing around so early.

"Dear! Listen to this, Sakuya said she wants to be like us!" Koria paused and looked at her brothers and father who sat down at the table and was amused at the show. "Of course she wants to take after you guys as well."  
Tajima actually smirked after the teasing addition.  
Izuna chuckled.  
Madara huffed. "Of course she wants to take after me. Sakuya-hime is my apprentice after all!"  
She couldn't help but laugh darkly at finally being able to show off soon. Very soon.  
Koria and Hisato brought out the breakfast and placed it down before each person before sitting down with their own share. Madara and Izuna were already scarfing down the food the second it was before them. Tajima was shaking his head at his sons and was taking his time with the rice and small fish.  
Sakuya watched his motions and her parents own gestures in cooking before mimicking it exactly. She was careful with her movements and after a slip-up at first, got used to the chopsticks and ate politely.  
The rest of breakfast went on without much trouble until Tajima decided to point out how she was being quite polite and eating properly.  
"Koria, have you been thinking about teaching Sakuya some etiquette?" Tajima suggested, and Koria smiled and nodded in thought.   
Madara and Izuna looked at their niece with great sympathy and that distrubed her.  
"Yes, father. I will be starting her training after today. In addition to etiquette, I will be teaching her what we discussed before. Hisato will be teaching her what he can regarding their shared sensing, along with what medical ninjutsu, seal work and poison making she can learn and master."  
Grandfather nodded at her response and returned to eating.  
Hisato looked over to her with a secretive smile, implying he knew something Sakuya didn't. "You know Sakuya, mommy's training might me harder than ninja training or any other lesson."   
"Really?" Sakuya asked.  
He nodded and dropped the subject, and Sakuya assumed it was to let her learn that on her own. Hisato must have seen the disbelief and incredulous expression on face because he soon it explained to her.  
"Your mother is well known for her lessons in etiquette. Her lessons are far more in-depth than the lessons I was forced through," He finished with a chuckle.  
In other words, Sakuya was fucked.

  
A short time later, Sakuya had found herself outside the main house and in a mostly private training ground along with her two uncles.

Izuna was grinning playfully at her, several pieces of chakra nature revealing paper in his hands.

  
"There's no need to worry Sakuya-hime! It's just confirming what we already know," Izuna reassured her and that made her confused.

  
Somehow she knew Royce was smiling and a smiling GM is highly dangerous and unstable. **"The Uchiha clan always has the fire nature by default. The Uzumaki clan usually has wind and water nature by default."**

_"I'm sensing a but here..."_

  
Royce laughed manically in her head before wandering off.

  
Madara was, well Madara, and had to be an ass. And tsundere ass at that.

"Let's just get this over with so we can move on to teaching you jutsu."

_Yeah, fuck you too._

Izuna showed her how to use the paper, channelling the chakra needed for it and revealing his own natures. Once finished he handed a piece to Sakuya, and motioned for her to try it.

Sakuya looked down at the sheet of square paper and channelled just a little of her dark mass of energy or chakra she supposed to it and got no reaction at all.

This lack of change continued for five minutes straight until the paper seemed to be done with everything and turned into a full on porn magazine.

An stunned silence filled the area as no one had any idea on what the hell that meant.

Sakuya flipped open the contents of the magazine, a dark blush and bloody nose signs of her own perverted nature showing the images were very real.

 **"I don't know if you and the world rolled a natural 20 or you both rolled me a 1, but I like this outcome. I like it a lot,"** she mentally said to Gavin.

Gavin seemed to be surprised by that and was chuckling.

"Apparently, I have the elusive and rare sexy chakra nature," Sakuya said with great pride.

Madara did not take having that nature well since he took the magazine out of her hands, rolled it up, and hit her on the head. 

"Stop messing around Sakuya-hime! That's not a proper nature," Madara scolded her.

"Oh, really?" Quickly she formed four very specific handseals rapidly before saying, "Sexy Harem Technique! Embrace Paradise!"

 **"You played Mass Effect far too much. Embrace Eternity anyone?"** Royce teased.

Sakuya twitched a little before focusing on the dozen of shadow clones of her as a teenager and young adult hugged up against the two older boys. Each clone of the Harem Technique was wearing skimpy clothing that barely held and covered their ample assets, and had snow white cat ears on their heads with a cat tail that moved and flicked. Claws and fangs completed sensual cat girl appearance.  
Izuna was having the most obvious nosebleed while Madara was having a small reaction at best. In fact the older boy didn't even react to it but instead focused on his smug little niece.

 **"Congratulations on creating the harem technique nearly eight or so decades before it's original creation! What are you going to do next?!"** Royce mocked before snickering at the insanity. **"And you totally just stole the Shadow Clone and Multiple Shadow Clones creation from Tobirama as well!"**

The clones vanished in puffs of smoke and Sakuya grinned in amusement at her uncles.

"You didn't react at all when you saw my sexy cat girl clones, Madara!" Sakuya exclaimed with great shock on her face. "Maybe you admire and love my humble self or maybe you were thinking of my male version." She covered her mouth in a show for amazement before pointing at him. "Gaydara!"

Izuna snickered at the shock and outrage on his brother's face. "Sakuya-hime has seen fit to give you a new nickname, nii-chan!"

Madara twitched at that. 'This crazy bitch,' he thought angrily.

Sakuya kissed her oldest uncle on the cheeks and then on lips. "No matter what, I will always love you Madara."

Madara was frozen, stunned by what she did and had a faint blush on his cheeks at being caught off guard.

Izuna was laughing until he was given the same treatment. The poor boy sputtered uncontrollably and blushed darkly.

Sakuya ran away giggling at their reaction.

Izuna looked at his older brother once his own reaction had died down enough for him to speak properly and showed how affected he was from the troll. 

"Gaydara nii-chan still isn't showing a reaction!" 

Madara glared at him before taking off after Sakuya.

-

  
Sakuya was laughing her lily white ass off deep in the woods though facepalmed when she realized where she had run off too...

"Of course I would wind up where Hashirama and Madara used to meet up as children. Why wouldn't I?" Sakuya uttered sarcastically.

She shook her head at her own situation and decided to see if she had other natures.

"This will either be the best idea ever or my stupidest," Sakuya began before forming the hand seals of the chidori move and watching the lighting form in both her hands, the familiar but unfamiliar sound of a thousand birds chirping echoing all around her. She cancelled the technique and watched her hands reject the damage.

"Yeah, that was stupid. May Kakashi Hatake's ancestors be blessed in exchange for this," Sakuya said solemnly and with great seriousness.

Then she cheered up and went a complete 180 in attitude.

"YOLO!" She cried out as she went overboard with her experimentation.

After using the Great Fireball Technique out over the water, and seeing the dark blue flames instead of the red version, Sakuya went over other basic jutsu for the elements before just having fun with it.

"The five basic chakra natures are mine to control," Sakuya stated with a happy grin. "I'm on my way to becoming the Avatar and Ninja Jesus!"

-

Madara had followed after the hellion, planning on giving her a piece of his mind when he realized where she stopped at. He hid himself behind some bushes and trees and cursed at the chance of this.

_Did she know of this location? Or was this just awful luck?_

He glanced away from the area where Hashirama and himself used to see each other as children in another life and world back to his niece and spotted that she had awakened the Sharingan somehow.

Madara blinked and the Sharingan was deactivated and he wondered if she had acquired it at all. That quickly was confirmed or rather put to the back of his mind as he watched her perform the oddest jutsu. It sounded like a thousand birds chirping and crackled with lightning.

After that, Sakuya created a Great Fireball Technique whose heat caused some of the water underneath it to be turned to steam. It's size and mere heat were impressive and for a first attempt it was extraordinary.

But it was too fast, and too hot and it would damage the forest long before it went out.

Sakuya must have realized that as well since she cursed heavily and somehow controlled the nearby water to block and contain the raging fire ball.

Madara noticed she had made some smooth and stable, if quick movements, with her arms and hands and wondered if she was using that to control the distant water.

The fireball was destroyed in the water prison, only steam and some fading smoke being the last traces of it's existence.

He watched as she made a thick wall of Earth in front of her after a few handseals before thrusting her hand out at it and wind blasted it apart.

_Sakuya can access all five basic chakra natures?!_

As strange and wrong as it sounded, Madara felt a little envious of her talents. The adult aspect of him was envious at that.

Seeing her use such chakra heavy jutsu without so much as sweat forming on her brow or breathing heavy at doing it, especially for her age, was unnatural.

At the same time, he couldn't hold it against her. There was something about Sakuya that made it seem like this display of power was normal, a given, and to think otherwise was the unnatural part. She seemed to draw people to her, both for good or ill, and he himself was not immune to it.

Madara looked away slightly as his faint blush threatened to reappear as he remembered what she did, and when he looked back she had somehow created a giant water dragon that she was playing around by using a single oddly shaped ball of condensed fire that she held close to her chest.

Sakuya wasn't moving as much as she was directing the water underneath her feat to move her around the lake, dodging swipes from the water made dragon as it tried to stop her from reaching the large wooden poles that were on the side of the lake she started on. Madara noticed there were another set of wooden poles on the far shore and he focused on her even more.

"Sakuya can use wood nature?!" Madara whispered to himself in awe and surprise.

_How is that possible?_

Madara's line of thinking grounded to a halt as he watched her create several shadow clones and tossed the ball between them as she used the water to speed to the end goal. The dragon roared out in outrage and snapped at a clone, tearing it in two and making it poof away. 

"I'm open!" Sakuya yelled out to the clone who was holding the ball.

The clone nodded her head and threw it in her direction mere seconds before it was destroyed by the annoyed dragon. Sakuya caught it and the second she reached the posts tossed it on the ground where it vanished.

She then did a strange little dance that Madara had no words for.

The dragon screeched out and sent a wave of water at her which she blocked with a tall and round circle wall of earth and bushes shielding her from the blow. Once she lowered it, the water dragon did it's best to give her the finger and vanished.

Madara was actually speechless by all this and the remaining clones vanished as well. He didn't think anyone or anything would surprise or intrigue him more after seeing what she was capable of. Seeing how far she would go would be interesting to behold.

He wanted to be there for her the entire step of the way.

-

"That was rather surprising. I have never seen anything like that before, especially from someone of your age. I'm actually impressed, and that is very hard to do."

Madara stiffened at hearing that voice, much younger than it once was, but it still filled him with an uncontrollable hate and rage. His head turned to face the speaker so quickly he thought it would give him whiplash and he almost felt his own Sharingan awaken once more by the pure negative emotions he had for both of them.

"Tobirama and Hashirama? What are they doing here...?" Madara spat out, disgust and slight horror at seeing them so suddenly.

The horror grew as the man in a child's body finally realized that Tobirama had genuinely complimented someone. He noticed the small smile on the filthy Senju's face and Madara felt dread at what that could mean.

Hashirama was openly gawking at his brother sincerely complimenting anyone. His jaw was dropped and his eyes were damn near bulging at the sight.

Madara shook his head at their appearances and turned to his niece who was smiling politely. Behind the nefarious bright smile that most would take as friendly and the supposedly soft look in her gaze, he caught a glimpse of the cold and calculating side of her as she watched them approach her.

Oddly enough, that reaction despite being nowhere near childish nor belonging to one of her tender age reassured him. 

At least she isn't fooled by them.

"I am honored that you would compliment one such as me," Sakuya addressed them and the compliment with a strange humbleness and formality that never would fit her normally. "I was merely trying to see what I could do after spotting others do similar things in my endless journey."

Madara had to stop himself from laughing at how serious and formal she was being right then. It wouldn't do to give away his location now, even if Sakuya had briefly glanced his way once or twice during the entire scene.

"That's really incredible!" Hashirama said after he stopped being surprised and turned to the girl with a wide and cheerful grin. "I never thought I would see someone being able to use all five chakra natures so instinctively, let alone seeing someone else being able to manipulate plants li-"

Tobirama coughed and gave his older brother a warning glare. The older brother pouted and seemed to sink down into himself.

Sakuya giggled at the sight, smirking mischievously at the older boy. Madara took that as her knowing their natures and personalities somehow.

Tobirama refocused on her after hearing her laughter and noticed how she resumed the cautious and polite manner.

"What is your name?" Tobirama asked after a moment's consideration.

"That's a rather dangerous question," Sakuya pointed out with a sly smirk. "For all you know, I could be a member or part time ally for any number of groups, especially ones that oppose..." She stopped herself and shook her head. "Tell me your names first. It is only polite to introduce yourself before asking after the name of another after all."

Tobirama nodded his head in acceptance, a smirk on his face. He laid a hand over his heart and said, "My name is Tobirama."

He then pointed half-heartedly at the other boy. "This idiot is my elder brother Hashirama."

Said idiot pouted and crossed his arms. "That wasn't very nice, little brother!"

Madara facepalmed at the familiar scene.

"Sakuya."

The two siblings looked at the younger girl who offered them her hand with some curiosity.

The girl shrugged. "My name is Sakuya." She rolled her dark red eyes as a show of her feelings toward her name. "I was named after a rumored goddess or spirit known as Konohanasakuya-hime. Said spirit was the embodiment of delicate earthly life, was often considered an avatar of human life and her most prominent symbol are cherry blossoms which suits that impression well. Konohana Sakuya was also the goddess of volcanos."

Tobirama took her hand in his, with surprising amounts of gentleness, and shook it after a moment. His hand lingered for a several moments longer than was proper and he forced himself to back away.

Or so it seemed that way to Madara.

"Your parents must be quite knowledgeable about a wide way of subjects if they would give you a name such as that," Tobirama stated with confidence. "They must surely have great things in store for you, Sakuya-hime."

Sakuya glared at the Senju with great annoyance and displeasure. "Don't even start with that nickname Tobi! I get enough of that bullshit from my mentors and watchers that!"

She grimaced and looked down for a moment, falling silent as the grave.

Madara didn't like the fact she considered her clanmates as watchers or observers but given how the elders and the extended branches of the clan seemed to look down on her for being only half Uchiha, he couldn't hold it against her.

If they learned of her abilities immediately, or even guessed on the sheer potential at her fingertips, that animosity would likely turn into outright hate and fear.

He, of all people, knew all too well how that would end, having been on the receiving end of the betrayal by his beloved clan before. 

All Madara could do was make sure they didn't try anything drastic. If they did...

The man in a child's body glared intensely at nothing.

Lost in his thoughts, Madara turned back to the scene when he noticed their surroundings quickly become shrouded in thick mist or fog.

_Is this the Hiding in Mist jutsu?_

Before his niece and her unwanted company were hidden completely, Madara saw a most unwelcome sight.

Tobirama and Hashirama were staring at her incredulously, a dark and very noticeable blush on their cheeks, and the hellion herself was blushing in mortification more than anything else. 

Tobirama raised two fingers to his lips just as the mist took over the area completely.

Madara felt her tiny hand slip into his and at her urgent tugging forward followed after her as they ran away from the scene.

-

Sakuya was damn close to having a full on mental breakdown as she pulled Madara along with her. The image of what she did was burned into her mind, and she knew it was due to the two diabolical Game Masters screwing her over.

Gavin really must have decided to mess her up. He had to! There was no other way to explain how she shifted from fully intending to show her dislike for their presence and how they were quickly becoming annoying with wanting to know more about her by kicking them in the balls, to kissing them both on the lips.

_And the Narration from Royce!_

**"Sakuya moves to grab both boys and positioned her legs to knee them quickly, but instead lightly touches her lips against theirs in swift succession. Hashirama is blushing darkly and seemed embarrassed and unsure of how to react. Tobirama is blushing, stunned and flustered. In addition to stealing the first kisses of Tobirama and Hashirama Senju, you stole the first kisses of your uncles as well. You perverted little girl, you."**

Sakuya let go of Madara's hand and scratched her scalp carefully but frantically. She wanted to lash out but didn't know what to say or do that wouldn't draw more suspicion to herself.

Madara was eying her with a strange knowing look and it bothered her a fair bit.

Before she could ask him what was wrong now, Sakuya stopped running at hearing the sounds of snarling and cursing nearby. The thick stench of fresh blood drew her attention and she stiffened at hearing the rustling of the nearby bushes near where the scent was coming from.

"We should leave," Madara stated as he stopped near her and eyed the possible threat.

A person or what appeared to be a person exited the bushes, clutching his chest protectively. He was dressed in a traveling Buddhist monk style of clothing and was leaning heavily against his shakujo, the six ringed staff. His features were pretty young, in his middle twenties to late twenties, and were definitely aesthetically pleasing to her taste. He had neck length sandy blond hair that was layered and a bit spiked up at the ends and dark green eyes that danced with mirth and mischief even in his current state. His lips were turned into a cunning and slightly perverted grin.

And that's were the human elements ended.

Sakuya saw the fluffy despite being covered in blood sandy blond tail, noticed his strange animal ears on top of his head, and saw pale golden markings around his eyes and in his visible flesh.

Madara had stepped in front of her as if to shield her from the suspicious person which was funny to think about.

"Young Lord? Little lady?" The man or entity rather supposedly named Seishi exclaimed with a wide grin. "What a surprise to see two Uchiha clan members in a place like this!"

Madara eyed him darkly, his hands positioned to grab at one of hidden kunai in his sleeves. 

Sakuya on the other hand was far to focused on figuring out what is going on here.

"You are a tanuki?" Sakuya asked the monk cosplayer who turned to her in wide eyed surprise.

The new arrival rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly for a moment and then nodded. "That's right, little one. You have some very sharp senses for one your age."

He stopped himself and suddenly approached them, crouching down to her level and sniffing her hair and neck before standing up and taking a step back.

"What the hell man?!" Sakuya demanded as she checked to make sure he didn't do anything weird to her.

Seishi's grin widened even more. "I figured you were a Uchiha, given the boy you are with has the presence of a pure blood member, but this was quite a treat. There has never been an albino Uchiha before but that seems more of a cover or a single aspect of your capabilities than anything else." He chuckled a little, and it was a surprisingly warm and comforting sound. "How did you know my name little one?"

"Clearly, it's because I'm the number one deity of this world!" 

Madara and Seishi shared a look before bursting out laughing at her declaration.

"More like a deity in training," Madara teased.

_So mocking my sarcastic comment helped Madara relax? The hell is with that?_

"I will remember this slight when I rule this universe," Sakuya declared dramatically.

All three of them cracked up then and everything was fun and games until whatever hurt the tanuki decided to show up to the party.

-

  
Hisato didn't know whether to hug the tanuki or grab his unconscious daughter and Madara from underneath his arms and slam the door in his face.

On one hand, Seishi was the one who taught him nearly everything he knew about spirits, monsters, his own sight, abilities and senses.

On the other, he was a shameless troublemaker who would curse and bless people out of boredom.

"Ah, I thought it was you Hisa-chan!" Seishi said in greeting, grinning mischievously the entire time.

Hisato flinched at the nickname from his old mentor. 

"Sensei..." The Uzumaki stepped aside and let the tanuki inside after giving him a warning. "I will not allow you to haunt her or anyone else here. You can stay here until you heal properly and then you must leave."

Seishi looked at him seriously and Hisato knew whatever he was going to say next would be important to both of them. The tanuki placed Madara down on the ground outside the house and handed over Sakuya to him with a rather soft expression on his face.

"You don't have any idea what she truly is... And what she capable of becoming."

After saying that the tanuki patted his shoulder in sympathy and reassurance as he passed him and entered the house. He paused shortly to look behind him and added, "And I owe her a life debt. She saved me and the boy from a very sticky situation."

"Sakuya's only three! She hasn't even started to be trained yet! How could she..." Hisato began and stopped dead when the tanuki started to laugh in an mildly unhinged manner.

"She will definitely need to learn how to control herself soon then. If she could cause that much damage acting on instinct and raw power, then I shudder to think what will happen as she grows. Sakuya-hime will only become stronger and more knowledgeable," Seishi said. He then looked around the main house and snorted. "Hasn't changed much since I was last here. Damn traditionists."

Hisato chuckled a little at hearing his mentors dislike for unchanging moments. His thoughts of things that never change were the same as them being dead was a familiar argument the two had often in the past.

"I'll bring Koria and Tajima here after I place Sakuya in her room so we can discuss what happened," Hisato said and quickly did as he said he would. In addition, he placed Madara in the same room as well, having a feeling that when he woke up and didn't see her near him that the young boy would frantically search for her.

-

Within ten minutes Tajima and Koria Uchiha had joined Hisato and their guest in the formal tea room, and the topic immediately went to the safety of the two children.

Or more importantly the drinks offered.

"Tea? Really, Hisa-chan?" Seishi whined. His eyes peered into the green liquid with barely hidden disgust.

Hisato snorted at his complaints. "Be glad I got you anything, you lush." He glared at the Tanuki who was clearly showing his tail and ears along with fangs and claws by now. "Care to tell me why you suddenly appeared with my unconscious family and smelling like a sake house?"

The tanuki rubbed one of his ears in thought. "That's a bit of a long story. From my end it started with checking out some rumors of male humans and youkai suddenly vanishing in a nearby forest." Taking in the shock and disbelief the demon thought they were dissing his concern. "I actually care a great deal about humanity. I find you guys and your struggles and suffering interesting."

"Continue Seishi-san," Tajima ordered but managed to add on the honorific at the last moment.

"I traveled into the lair and noticed a lot of skeletons but found some people still alive and mostly unharmed. Among the males and one or two females was quite a stunner of a beauty. Long, thick black hair, lovely amber eyes, a body to die for..." Seishi started to giggle like the pervert he was.

Hisato sighed in frustration. "I can see where this is going."

Seishi shrugged helplessly. "Well, I spent some time getting to know her and nearly ended up dying. Damn woman was a Jorogoro."

Koria refocused on the conversation then. "You actually attempted to seduce a man eating female demon?"

Once again the tanuki shrugged helplessly. He did look a little ashamed by that though.

"Not one of my best moments," Seishi admitted with a grimace. "After I managed to escape with my life, barely at that, I ran into the two kids."

"Why are they unconscious?" Koria asked sternly.

Seishi became deadly serious and stared into his tea cup before drinking some of it. After a moment of obvious hesitation, he explained what happened.

"The Jorogoro followed me, probably fearful of me telling others where it was, and attacked the three of us. The girl, Sakuya-hime I would learn later, fought back with far more knowledge and mastery in ninjutsu techniques and elemental natures than anyone her apparent age should be capable. It was more instinctual like the jutsu and dodging or fighting was as easy and thoughtless as breathing. Few humans can accomplish that in their lifetimes, and here was a girl who was doing that." Seishi paused and took in deep calming breath as he looked up at the three adults in turn. "This is where things get weird."

"The legs were then passively broken down into nothing or pushed out of her flesh and finished mending the wound leaving not a sign of the damage or a scar behind."

Koria covered her mouth in shock. "How?" Her whisper was soft and sad.

No one knew but they continued to listen to the story.

"It took about an hour or two to put her and her spider minions down. Given my condition right then, I helped where I could with Sakuya but focused on taking out her poisonous and fire breathing pet spiders with the boy called Madara. Once the last one had curled up and died, we turned to face the girl who was systemically destroying the monsters flesh once the legs were all gone. All I could do, was see her somehow devour the monster."

Hisato frowned deeply. He out of all the humans there knew what Seishi meant by devouring.

"My daughter ate the spider demon?"

Seishi made a so-so gesture with his right hand. "It wasn't like how the mindless, low to medium ranked spirits, monsters, and ayakashi do it. She didn't physically consume her. Some kind of tangible darkness or shadows surrounded her and the target and the human devoured the mind and essence of the youkai, draining it of life and chakra that way. The Jorogoro's body then proceeded to rapidly decay until not even dust was left of it. Sakuya then passed out."

"That's a very rare ability. An ayakashi ability," Hisato started but was cut off by his wife's concern.

"Why is Madara unconscious then?"

  
Seishi laughed awkwardly. "He started to panic and ran to her side. When he noticed the below average heartbeats and the deep state of sleep she was in, he worried even more. I knocked him out to not have to deal with an emotional brat wanting answers and hightailed it here."

  
The stunned expressions on their faces proved how taken aback they were with everything that happened in the story.

  
And because Seishi was shameless he added, "I want to watch the little miss who appears human but can use youkai abilities instinctively grow. That and I really don't have a home right now so I intend to become her familiar and live here or with her at least. I do hope we all get along."

  
Horror and surprise joined the stunned expressions and Seishi took that as a job well done.


	3. Childish Antics

**I will listen to and follow the advice of a mentor character like a talking animal or magical old person. Bonus if they are both.**

\- 

Sakuya was back at the place where she ran into the two Senju the day before. The place where Hashirama and Madara spent time together in their youth. Or where they were meant to get to know each other.

Madara wasn't going to play that game, so Sakuya figured that with her appearance marking her different from either of her clans, she could get close to them for her own purposes.

She was no fool. Her clan wouldn't pass up the opportunity to use her to spy on their enemies, or have explore and enter places they couldn't. It was only a matter of time.

"Let's destroy a half miles worth of forest on route to this place! I'm sure no one will notice the fact that the trees that were used to replace it do not belong in this type of environment!" The sarcasm coming from the tanuki behind her made want to punch his head in.

Sakuya sighed and looked behind her to see Seishi taking fresh fruit like bananas, oranges, apples, cherries, peaches, and nectarines off the new trees and placed them into his greedy waiting arms.

  
"If you are going to whine, then don't take the food."

  
Seishi pouted like a petulant child. "Don't tell me what to do you damn brat! I'll do what I want! Besides, it's free food and-"

  
And she went back to tuning him out.

-

Seishi was unfortunately right. It was a stupid move, but it was done to get the attention of Hashirama or even Tobirama. The little girl highly doubted they would return to this exact place, at least not anything soon, but she wanted to start to get to know them. It would be easier to befriend them for whatever reason as a child.

  
Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Sakuya sat down against a tree trunk and looked around her, taking in the nature of the world she was in for the first time.

  
"It's so different compared to home."

  
"What are you yammering on about now," Seishi asked. Suspicion and wariness warred for dominance in his voice.

"Your 'god' daddy," Sakuya said automatically.

The tanuki flipped her off before returning to his stolen meal, leaving her in a peaceful repose.

This world was different. Beautiful.

She took a deep breath, even if it was unneeded, and focused on how crisp and pure the wind and air was. When she had first returned from the game, she had noticed the drastic difference in quality in everything.

Beneath her body was healthy roots, unpolluted earth and chemical free plants. The sound of water, free of contaminants, was as pure as the water itself. The scent of the earth calmed her, and other scents came to her as she entered meditation.

"So when am I going to properly learn hand seals and jutsu?"

"You aren't."

  
She frowned deeply, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "What?" She asked incredulously.  


-

Yokai.

  
She was going to learn how yokai fight and use chakra like they did instead of how normal humans did. She wasn't learning normal jutsu or hand signs or anything!

  
_What the actual fuck?!_

  
Seishi looked on top of her head, her hands, her feet, into her eyes, glanced at her snarl and the teeth there, paid attention to her bare flesh due to the black sleeveless training top and shorts, and stared at her butt.

  
All of that took a handful of seconds but it was unnerving.

  
The scent of blood and sand tickled her nose as she stared back at him with stubbornness. A shiver ran down her spine, more wonder than fear, as the green eyes turned into the far more familiar eyes of Shukaku. The sandy blond hair remained but became lighter like the sands of his long time homeland, and he became more lean and willowy compared to how. The infamous markings covered his visible flesh and he grinned in a blood thirsty manner.

  
"It's great to be around someone who knows who I really am," the revealed tanuki said with glee. "You can see my true self, and the rest of yokai or unnatural phenomenon but you have yet to see how it affects you."

  
She didn't know why she had to say this but decided to trust her instinct that she should. "Do I need to remind you about the pecking order?"

  
All the bravado Shukaku or the formerly known as Seishi had was bluster since the aggressive and insane one tail calmed down and had this harsh grimace on his aesthetically pleasing face. "That's unneeded, brat."

  
She snorted at the response and stood up, walked over to the waters edge and looked into it. Below the clear surface, she saw fish swimming without a care.

  
Suddenly the cry of a human baby echoed from the underbrush near her and she laughed. Her sharp gaze moved to what looked like a small giggling red-skinned baby. It reminded her faintly of a kappa and with that distinction Sakuya guessed it was an Kawa Akago, or river baby.

They were more mischievous than dangerous or obviously dangerous. If a human had wandered down to the river’s edge, the kawa akago would retreat further into the underbrush and call out again. This would have continued with the yōkai leading its victim further and further into the river. Finally, it would have sneaked up under the unsuspecting human, pull his legs out from under him, and send him tumbling into the river. People have drowned during this prank.

With a flick of her wrist, a narrow and condensed blue flames formed into three thin blades that sliced through the underbrush without completely destroying the dried plants. A high pitched shriek came from the tiny, insignificant yokai as it swam away in fear.

A twisted smile grew on her lips as she enjoyed the fact something reacted to what she did. Her dark eyes glimmered with fascination at how easy it was to picture the flames then control them. Her heart sped up at the joy of doing this so simply.

"Is this how yokai use chakra? Or is it more a tailed beast reaction?" Sakuya asked. She didn't even look at the tanuki she was addressing. No, her eyes were firmly on her own reflection.

The large frame for a child of three, the pure white shoulder length fluffy hair, the moon pale skin tone, the wide twisted grin of happiness and the blood drenched eyes were all familiar to her by now. It was the things that were there in her reflection that shouldn't be there that caught her attention.

Two white fox ears adorned the top of the reflection's head, twisting and flicking at the slightest sound. Her teeth, and more specifically her canines, were far sharper and pointed in the water. More animalistic.

The tips of her fingernails were claws made to slice others apart, and her eyes were slitted and feral. Nine white tails moved around her without disturbing the water.

It had to be an illusion. There was no way she was a fox but...

Without her knowing it, her hand reached down toward the water and the reflection reached for her as well.

It gave her a strange sense of clarity, of a goal aside from surviving, and that was to make the unquestionable, unstoppable raw power the Yokai version of her had displayed a new reality. 

She would never need to fear anyone ever again with that kind of presence. No one could hurt her, or get away with it. She could be loved, feared, respected and worshiped.

At the very least, she would have the affection and attention she truly craved and was denied prior to her rebirth.

A sound of a rock passing through the air, forced her to jump back as a stone the size of her head hit the water and destroyed her image. It was still enough to create a decision of her future goals.

"Most yokai do. Many use their environments before using chakra to create the element, others use a combination of both." Sei-, Shukaku, said in a distracted manner. He looked at where the altered reflection once was with a strange gaze then shook it off. "Yokai don't use hand signs at all, preferring to do jutsu or their version of it, naturally and instinctively. In fact, most of the time they try to use hand signs or conventional seals, it backfires or doesn't work at all. They rely on their environment and their own powers, and because of that learned how to apply it in different ways."

"Neat."

Shukaku seemed to be regretting meeting her, and he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "The easiest elemental nature to start with is water since-"

"Water fight!"

"Water what?"

Shukaku learned what when he was suddenly blasted with a wave of water.

Sakuya fell to her knees, clutching her stomach as unstoppable laughter spilled from her at the sight. Joy filled her at pulling one over the ancient tanuki.

"I like you."

She stopped laughing and looked up at him, only to see a vicious grin and a slight twitch to his unique eyes. A rough, coarse substance wrapped itself around her leg, and the moment she looked down to see the sand, she was thrown into the air.

"Now swim bitch."

Slowing down the wind as she fell toward the water was easy. Cushioning the air was easy too. Cushioning the water...not so much.

Several loud cracks, sharp pain, and her body rejecting said pain and injuries, the young girl shot out of the water and focused on the vast amount of water around her. With a few mental images, and a single swirl of her body, Sakuya created a whirlpool-like pillar of water. The pillar's constantly shifting and coiling movements resembled a giant snake of water protecting the lower body, elevating her from the surface of the water.

She was above much of the nearby canopy line and looked over the top of the trees in awe. It was a damn good thing that she never had a fear of heights.

 _I seem to have become a water bender,_ Sakuya thought with a noticeable tinge of hysteria to her thoughts. Shaking her head then looking down to the shore, she glowered at the tanuki.

  
"You done fucked up," she told Shukaku.

The tanuki blinked incomprehensibly at the comment.

The three year old made a sharp upward movement with both of her pale arms and rose the water around her up. She kept it there for a moment.

"Don't you-"

A short, dismissive motion of her hand sent the wave of water to sweep over the shore and force the past to stumble. At the last moment, Shukaku raised a wall of earth and sand mixture to shield himself as she recalled the wave.

Slowly, the shield cracked and a pissed off but excited eye peeked out. "You want to play? I'll bleed you out brat!"

Sakuya looked at him with disdain, or like she was staring at trash. That was due to the known fact it would aggravate Shukaku and force him to move. Her words were only the icing in the cake. "I think we both know who would win. Unfortunately for you, I don't want any of your blood within me. I don't want anything of you inside me."

For some reason, that was enough to trigger the tanuki and cause her to learn another lesson.

Later that evening, once things had settled down, the lesson would be know as: Do not taunt the tanuki.

-

Whirling and swaying with the water, the red haired girl defended herself against the far weaker attacks of water, moderately strong earth and extreme gusts of wind. The later of the two forced her to learn how to change the pressure of the water to protect herself against the rage fueled rocks and tangible blades of wind.

It took more time than she wanted it to, but Sakuya had managed to freeze most of the water that she turned into whips and claws attached to her water armor into sharp ice. It was easier to heat up the water into steam, mist or fog but it was harder to freeze it for her. Lowering the temperature of the water was not an instantaneous effect, but actively took her making it drop. A part of her suspected that if she was from the Yuki clan, had a higher proficiency level or was taught how to do this specifically, it would happen in a few blinks of the eye.

_Nobody is perfect. This is just another way to improve myself._

It was then, after hours of constant fighting, that her body started to fail her. Even if she had incredible prowess with chakra and these kinds of things it didn't mean anything if she was too tired to move.

The body of a three year old, even ones from the Naruto universe who were unnaturally strong and could use chakra practically from birth it seemed, tired easily.

The whooshing sound of a small rock passing through the air was all the warning she got before the water spout collapsed. Water splashed back down and Sakuya plummeted until she was caught by a clawed hand made from sand.

The sand hand carried her over and raised her to eye level with him. It forced her exhausted head up and with great resentment she stared into smug golden eyes.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

A sardonic grin, made solely to belittle the tanuki for his win plastered itself on her face, and her already wide and expressive eyes grew larger to show how little she cared. "I'm the Avatar and you gotta deal with it!"

Before she could get enough energy to move and send flames into his face, the sound of rapid movement coming from behind and to the side of her her clued her in that others were watching.

She smelled the sea, and felt the frozen intensity of snow and the deep depths of the oceans from the closest onlooker and knew it was one of her two targets.

The sudden spike of chakra was unexpected however.

"Is that-" Sakuya's words were cut off as she was tackled with enough pressured water to break the bones of adults.

On the plus side, the sand was knocked off her by the time she hit the tree.

It was at that moment that Tobirama knew he fucked up.

-

Shukaku shrugged, swirling the cup of green tea lazily before taking a sip. The burning sensation paled to the glares he was getting from the papa wolf, mama bear and the even more serious than normal Tajima.

It was after dinner and the adults were discussing what happened earlier that day while the three children of the main house were doing dishes in the next room. The reason why the tanuki was given the stink eye was for three reasons: he thrashed the little girl through training for hours on end; said girl was 'saved' by Tobirama Senju; and Tobirama Senju and Sakuya started to argue with each other which ended up with them deciding to return to that point a few times a week to try and show off or some nonsense.

"You intended for her to infiltrate other clans, factions and communities from the beginning," Shukaku pointed out. "Having her befriend and form a one sided rivalry on his part with Tobirama, one of the most suspicious and prideful people in the other major clans, would only be beneficial for what you intend to do."

Killing Intent oozed out of the kitchen and the sound of glass breaking echoed within the room. The faint sound of wind and water moving stopped when the glass broke.

Izuna's chakra spiked in worry. "This is why I told you not to try to do the dishes while manipulating water and wind!"  
His comment went unnoticed by the other children, though Hisato was chuckling at that and Koria just sighed at the typical antics of her family.

"That pompous, prideful little shit! I'll show him. Thinks he can one up me! I'll defile everything he loves!"

The oddly chipper homicidal rage in a three year old's voice would of been unsettling if it was any other clan, and if he wasn't as unstable and bloodthirsty.

"Good girl," Madara almost purred in sadistic glee. "Let the hate flow through you."

"Fuck off, you must."

Shukaku laughed in a more stable fashion at the rude comment that the obviously affectionate towards her omnicidal maniac clearly didn't expect her to say given the fleeting flash of alarm in his chakra.

 _Oh yes,_ the tanuki thought. _This is going on be fun._

"The Senju spawn doesn't suspect her true allegiances?" Tajima asked. The clan head was silent as he went over the possible pros and cons of this uncanny luck, and his resolute words seemed to hint that he would allow this rivalry without interference as long as it was beneficial to them and they didn't doubt her.

Shukaku smirked. "Not at all. It helps that they believe she is a ward or pupil of mine and would be joining me in my travels. My neutral status to the conflicts of you humans is applied to her as well." The smirk dropped as he became serious for a change. "Most of you pests don't think much about civilians so maybe you don't know this but about a week south from here at a civilian's run, there is a large city. It is ruled by nine families who return there every few years and governs the rest of this continent with an iron fist. I don't particularly care what you humans do to one another, but since Sakuya will no doubt be caught into their slaving, hedonistic, mass murdering, schemes you should be aware of what is happening to the world outside of the endless wars of ninja."

The sounds of the children cleaning up the mess and their friendly bickering proved they were busy with those chores to focus on the discussions.

The tanuki told the three adults what he had heard of them along with his own interactions with them before informing them about an even greater threat.

"Common yokai, good and bad, are often separated into the weak or cannon fodder, moderate, and strong rankings with a wide range of variety in power between each ranking." Shukaku downed the last of the tea in a single gulp and put the cup down with more harshness than necessary. "There are the rare yokai who are far stronger, older and intelligence than most. They decided to give themselves the rank of nobles, glorifying in their status over lesser yokai. The lesser in their eyes obey them out of fear and respect, serving as their tools and satisfying their needs. Above them stands the rulers, whose power and control is godly compared to even nobles."

Tajima and Koria left to tend to their own remaining duties for the day, leaving Hisato Uzumaki alone with Seishi.

The Uzumaki looked toward the kitchen, concern and worry for his hellspawn etched into his face and posture, and when he turned back to Shukaku the truth of the matter behind this con

Hisato frowned, a dark look to his expression as he understood what was being said. "You believe Sakuya might be considered a threat to these leaders? For both the civilian families and these yokai rulers?"

"Perhaps," the tanuki said evasively. "Humans don't believe in yokai like they used too, and can't see or sense the truth around them. But there is a world coexisting alongside humanity, as you well know. Most people can only see outlines of yokai and spirits or the lingering traces of them. Your lovely wife, nephew Izuna and Tajima are like that. The rest of the clan outside the main house is even worse, godless bastards."

Hisato chuckled in a nervous manner. "Madara and Sakuya are different then?"

"Likely due to his own circumstances, and the closeness he has with Sakuya, Madara can see most of the truth of this world. Not all of it, not by a long shot, but enough to see yokai and yurei and fight them on equal footing if it came to that. His sight will become stronger than yours, in time." Shukaku said. "What is concerning is the girl."  
The red haired man straightened up now that his daughter was brought up. In his pupiless black eyes glimmered the threat of violence. "Why?"

"The first kind of people, the majority of this world, see me as a normal wandering monk. People with limited sight to the truth see me as an ordinary tanuki and still a wandering monk with the name of Seishi.

Sakuya sees the entirety of the truth if this world, more than humans or yokai rulers alike, and could see my true appearance and said my original name. Even at a tender age, she is more powerful than most nobles could ever even dream of, and she is still human. The rulers, the royals would be interested in this human that might rival them sooner than they ever had anyone else do in their five centuries of reigning over the rest of the Yokai kind. And since humans as a race are generally weaker than common yokai, you can see where I'm going with this."

Shukaku had let some of his bloodlust show, his true nature on display for the first time before one of his former pupils, and he didn't care. Excitement and a growing bloodlust for the conflicts to come radiated off of in his chakra and the bloodthirsty and starving inhuman grin on his face.

"I believe the lesson we can all learn here is not to take short cuts with washing dishes." Sakuya said, her childish voice breaking the growing tension with it's determination.

"We are dead! Koria is going to kill us." Izuna yelled, panic entering his voice.

Madara, for likely the first time in his existence, was the voice of reason for the trio. Shukaku found that ironic. "Well, we are dead. Sakuya will remain unaffected since Koria loves her more than she does us now."

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious Gaydara! Any other riveting reveals," Izuna sarcastically asked.

Shukaku watched as the cause of the fighting lipped out of the kitchen into the dining room and approached the two adults there. In her hands were shards of broken glass, remnants from some dishware.

"I broke it," she admitted. It was an obvious thing but it had to be said. "I was using wind and water with a little fire to move, rinse and dry the dishes. I lost control over it and dropped it." She glanced back at where the loud brotherly arguing was heard and returned her gaze to them. It was mischievous. "I predict five minutes from now, they will be at each other's throats, shouting insults, and carrying around a clan member's head on a stick."

Shukaku nodded, a pleased gleam to his eyes. "Good. It was starting to become too friendly and peaceful here for me. I was about to fight or kill something for any kind of excitement before this happened." He pushed his teacup closer to the confused father. "Pour me another cup."


	4. The Bluest Blood

In the southern section of the Land of Fire was a large city that served as a capital and trading center to the other major nations and communities. In the center of the city was a large multi-floored complex called as the Fortress where nine noble civilians families ruled unchecked for centuries. It was a sad state of affairs that the endless warring of the ninja clans led to them caring more for their kin then the world, letting this infestation fester here and elsewhere. This would no doubt come to head sooner rather than later, but if they would survive this willful ignorance was anyone’s guess.

A man in silver clad robes walked down the long hallway that was illuminated by torches.

The man was definitely pushing a midlife crisis, evident from the amount of wrinkles around his eyes. His brownish hair had begun to creep away from the front of his skull. The strands had soaked up the sweat in his forehead from the run through the fortress.

_Why wasn't I told about this? I'm a member of the Fellowship right? Then how dare they start a meeting without me! It´s an outrage! I will have someone´s head for this. And why this meeting even called!?_

He reached the large double doors and prayed that he wasn’t too late. On the other side, several voices could be heard.

"The situation needs…"

"Why did we have to summon…"

"In the way…"

"…are you certain?"

He pushed one of them inwards and wheezed out, "WAIT!"

  
Inside the room, eleven figures sat in the shadows on a chair each by a large vertical table and they turned their heads towards him. These people where the most powerful individuals in Hiroiri and the rulers of it.

The Heirs of the Fellowship.

One of them remarked with great mockery.

"Oh, look! Lord Gato finally decided to show up! We were about to start without you."

Gato coughed and tried to get some air into his pounding chest, a result from the years of a cramped and secluded lifestyle. He looked up and provided a toxic look as he walked over and slid down on his seat.

"Keep your mouth shut. Why wasn’t I told about this meeting?"

Another of the shadows spoke to him in a cold voice. "We did send a messenger. Three hours ago."

"I wasn’t told about it! So don´t try to come up with excuses!"

"Just admit that you were lazy."

"I was NOT!"

The sound of a heel that hit the table silenced them all and the attention was diverted towards two people at the far end of it.

Two people waited patiently on a chair each, a man and a woman. They looked different from all the others in the room in their clothing since they were the only ones in the room that didn’t wear the silver robes.

The man looked rather impatient as he sat with his arms crossed and both legs crossed on the table while he leaned back in his chair. He wore a dark leather vest that just hung wide open and didn’t seem to do anything to keep him cool in the warm lands of this country. He also had a pair of dark pants that also seemed to be made of leather and kept his feet in bandages. The dark brown hair laid flat on his head and a single lock of hair stood out at the base of his neck. He looked rather annoyed as he stared at them with his dark silver blue eyes.

"Just keep quiet! And-"

He was silenced when the woman next to him touched his left arm with the sleeve covering her right arm and hand.

  
The woman in question appeared to be a shorter than the man with silver eyes and seemed to be the same age as him. Her small body was clad in an odd white kimono that couldn't be adapted for the comfortably warm weather of the Land of Fire. It had long thick sleeves that continued well over a foot, and the obi was a solid black. From behind her back, one could see the handle to a weapon of unknown nature.

She spoke in an authorized and somehow more reasonable voice. "Joji, that´s enough. You got their attention."

Joji ogled with his eyes in her direction and obediently kept his mouth shut after a single phrase, "Yes, Ikune."

Ikune withheld from lowering her hand and sighed as she put both her hands in her lap instead. The others in the room found her presence and dominating aura of a predator with bleeding prey before it, a little eerie and most of all, unsettling.

She looked down at the rest of the Fellowship and showed a pleased smile on her face. One that made them all move their chairs a little bit further from her.

"Now that everyone´s here... I hereby declare this annual meeting started."

___

  
  
None of the nine nobles around the table dared to say a word at Ikune's announcement and threw a couple of suspicious looks at each other. It was quite common among the aristocrats to never let their guard down in the presence of their competitors. This could be even considered expected among the Fellowship, which after centuries of luxury and power, had become nothing more than a bunch of vultures over a cadaver. Their lives were a constant battle where everyone wanted what the other had to increase their own influence solely for the sake of power.

  
One of the members around the table spoke up, irritated. "Let get this over with! Start with less important matters so we won´t have to waste more time in here."

The man in question had medium-length red hair that hanged flat down with brown eyes that just emitted annoyance over the situation.

One of the others, a woman with her black hair tied up in a bun on top of her head and a surprisingly young appearance replied with toxicity, "How interesting! Lord Kudou, what is the matter? Do you think you have better things to do?"

Kudou answered her look with a set of narrowed eyes in frustration, like he wanted to just lash out and strangle her right there. Instead he replied in a snarl, "Unless you haven´t noticed it, Lady Sagawa, I have just gotten a report that one of my towns got raided by some bandits a week ago."

A raised cynical eyebrow came from Sagawa as she stated in a monotone voice that lacked any real interest, "How surprising to see that you care that much about it. How many dead?"

Kudou hummed in thought.

Sagawa leaned forward with a morbid interest in her eyes and a cruel grin. She asked her question again slowly like she was talking to a child, "How many dead?"

"I don´t know. Maybe two hundred peasants. I don´t keep count of trash that can be easily replaced!"

He slammed his hand in the table to let out some frustration and continued to rub his temples as to ease the pain.

Sagawa asked in increased curiosity, misplaced and eerie. "So you still haven´t got any better."

Another toxic and angry look from Kudou who replied in pure hateful defiance, "Sorry to disappoint you, but it will take a lot more than this to bring me down!"

Sagawa waved with a backhand in the air and replied in amused ignorance. "I don´t know what you´re talking about."

"Don´t try to play innocent. I know about your little hobby, so you won´t fool me!" The paranoid outburst left his lips and he clenched his teeth once again when a sting of sharp pain went through his head.

Gato sat quietly and had made up his mind to not speak at this meeting. He would still answer their questions but he never made any small talk like these two did. He didn’t dare to speak up.  
_Seems like Kudou still suffers from the effects. Good. It seemed that I paid for high quality merchandise after all,_ Gato thought with some satisfaction.

He was careful not display any emotion as Sagawa and Kudou bickered with each other. They all knew about Kudou´s anger problem and eagerness to take arms against anyone that threatened him, but Gato had learned to never soil his hands with blood or show any confidence around the others.

A heavy bang on the table interrupted them.

The bickering came to a halt when Joji stomped down with one heel in the floor once again.

Ikune's voice had an amused yet irritated tone as she said, "We're going to be here all day if this childish bickering continues. I don't have the patience for this. I will point at you in a certain order and you can discuss whatever the one I point at says."

The others looked at the self-acclaimed leader of the Fellowship, Lord Amachi, a middle aged man with a neatly combed brown beard that only made him look like an douche.

He closed his eyes and nodded, in other words accepting the suggestion.

The other lords and ladies pulled a deep and hateful sigh as none of them wanted to go through with it. To be directed by someone so low that she didn’t even have a title was a repulsive thought to many of them, yet none wanted to openly oppose the idea since none of them wanted to be ordered by the others either.

Ikune raised a hand with amusement in her eyes and pointed towards the one closest to her right.

Gato could tell from the long pale gold hair, the identity of the woman as Fukumoto.

**A really young girl who only been a lady for two years by today´s account. She couldn’t be more than eighteen years but her cold emotionless eyes made her appear older than she really was. She had inherited the one common feature that all members of the Fukumoto bloodline possessed, her eyes had two different colors where her left had a chestnut brown color while the other had a bright blue one. This family trait proved that she had the right to be called a Fukumoto and the privileges that came with it. She had a heart of stone and wouldn’t think twice about condemning a child to brutal punishments, but she also possessed a high amount of political knowledge that wasn’t natural for a child of her age and knew how to rule her part of the continent and even stay ahead of the others in discussions as well. A political prodigy.**  
**Her family had experienced several misfortunes over the years and she had a dark history behind it. It was a mystery how three of her younger siblings had died in apparent accidents, some of them had been found dead in the cradle by ‘natural’ causes. The rest of her few surviving siblings had simply vanished without a single trace. How her mother ‘tripped’ in the stairs of the fortress and lost her own life at the bottom of it was a known rumor. Every other woman that her father tried to marry suddenly had been found guilty of espionage and other discriminating evidence that lead to their executions. This had gone on until the day that she turned sixteen and her father died in a "hunting" accident.**  
**After the alliance with the servants of the Temple of the Great One, Fukumoto had shown a preference to hire ninja and samurai from them as her own personal bodyguards. The only thing the group had required in return had been their absolute silence and a promise to never report anything that happened in the Land of Lightning. These guards always remained by Fukumoto´s side even if it couldn’t be seen. They all knew they wouldn’t be that far away from her if she was seen alone, regardless of the circumstances.**  
**She was the sole heir of the Fukumoto bloodline… and also the most dangerous from it.**

Fukumoto spoke in a monotone voice that sounded cold to their ears and reported, "The population of Land of Lightning remains largely unchanged. Workers will be sent as expected. Nothing is amiss."

One of the other members raised a hand and sounded a little bothered by this. "Nothing is amiss? Than what is this I heard about ninja attacking your caravans?"

Gato turned his attention towards the speaker and identified him as Miyake.

**Identified by his tendency to twitch with one eyebrow, brownish-grey hair and a face that resembled a rat. Infamous amid his own peers as one of the greediest people on the continent and a desire that couldn’t be fulfilled no matter how much he got into his hands. He lived by the philosophy that one could never get too rich, too prepared, too healthy or too satisfied. He had discarded the Temple of Light faith since it didn’t permit him to have as many women that he wanted. He never married any of them and kept them as mistresses that even served as his personal bodyguards. Some were toys that he discarded once he grown tired of them or perished by his rough treatment. He only married a woman when he needed a legitimate heir to continue the bloodline. It was only a rumor though that his way with women had produced a good number of illegitimate heirs but it couldn’t be confirmed due to the lack of witnesses.**  
**Renowned as a "charismatic" man in the eyes of others and drew women to him like flies to a cadaver as he unleashed his charms and the alluring bait of his self-earned riches. He didn’t care much about those that he picked up as long as they had good bodies that he could ravish to his own pleasure. After the alliance, he had come up with quite an unusual request. In fear for his own safety and increased distrust for the women he picked, he made an offer: The silence from half of the Land of Water in return for a harem that could protect him at all times. It wasn’t an unreasonable request since he had begun to fear that the women he picked up lately could be assassins, in service of the other aristocrats. The main concern thought was that he was exposed in the nights and could be killed at that time. He also requested that this harem would be composed of various different women that would please any taste he might have for the evening, women that wouldn’t complain or give him stares of pain and disgust, women that only would exist for him and endure his treatment on them.**  
**He got exactly what he wanted.**  
**Miyake had been so pleased with this new harem that he even stopped showing interest in other women anymore.**  
**This had earned his silence and freedom to do whatever they wanted in half his country.**

Fukumoto replied without any emotion in her voice while Miyake remained nervous. "It´s not a problem anymore. It has been weeks since the last time there were any attacks within Land of Lightning."

"That´s not the problem!" Miyake breathed rapidly as he continued. "If you´re not attacked then it means they will try to move to a new territory and from what I can recall, the last time something like this happened was the same time I lost two villages in my part of Land of Water."

"Why do you care? You said that they are trash anyway."

"That might be the case, but it was my trash! And I decide when I want to dispose of it."

Another stomp with Joji´s heel and they both silenced before the quarrel could escalate to a new level. The meeting went on as usual with Fukumoto´s conclusion of her rapport.

"Other than that there´s nothing new to report."

Ikune provided a pleased nod and pointed at the next person in line.

A short man with small eyes and large nose over the long dark brown beard that been carefully combed and split in two halves. He had little grumpy expression and narrowed blue eyes that made his nose look larger than it really was.

The mountain lord of Land of Earth, Chiura.

**A man whose stunted growth ran in the family and only made him at most 1.30 meters tall. Familiar with the country of Land of Earth and the one in charge of the resources for the organization for the most part. He could be called cruel and relentless and nobody could say much to disprove it either since his only concern was if the material arrived or not.**  
**He was quite sensitive about his height and anyone who made fun of it was executed with immediate effect right afterwards. It didn't matter if it was a child or not. He even carried around an axe for just that purpose and his hearing could only be described as formidable. It was said that he even could hear a man's heartbeat from ten meters away. This was also the reason to why he had survived the assassination attempts from his fellow aristocrats in the past. Not that he hadn’t tried to assassinate them in return by staged ambushes from hired mercenaries.**  
**Of all the aristocrats, he could be considered to be the most enduring and stubborn. Refusing to die, refusing to give up and would kill anyone to become the last man at the top of the fellowship.**  
**He also relied on his own abilities more than the others and only trusted himself above anyone else. This decision had been his advantage since he knew that he couldn’t rely on others.**  
**After the alliance with the group, he wanted even more power to hone his own body further, a request that been granted and right now rested within his inner pocket until the day it could be used.**

Chiura spoke in a really deep voice, similar to the noise of a bear. "I'm sorry to say that the latest shipments will be delayed until further notice."

Nearly all the other aristocrats turned their stares at him and Kudou inhaled deeply in frustration. "What?"

Chiura continued as he held up a hand as to calm Kudou down.

"As I said, the escort of my men was ambushed by ninja about two weeks from here. The only survivor that managed to get back here told me that much."

Sagawa just rolled with her eyes and sounded bored as she spoke up. "Then just make another request to named clans like the Senju or the Uchiha. They are paid to deal with these kinds of problems."

"They can't do anything about it. The thing that attacked will just hide again and the rocky caverns and make it incredibly dangerous to track it, let alone hunt it."

One of the other aristocrats, Asaka, asked in slight concern, "Is the shipment untouched?"

Chiura just shook his head and Asaka continued, "Another one then. How many times will our caravans be raided?"

"I would rather kill them all but since you people can´t make a decision without me, I constantly have to put that hunt on hold."

Chiura gave them all an evil stare and especially at Asaka and Kimura who endured it longer than the others. It wasn't a secret that these two were responsible for most of the assassination attempts on him.

None of it could be proven of course but he trusted his own gut feeling on who the guilty party would be.

"Stop wasting my time you dirty cowards."

"How dare you!" Asaka rose up from his chair and defended himself from the accusations as his pride took the insult as personal.

  
**A man with chestnut brown hair and in his early thirties, obsessed with the "purity of the bloodline". A pure xenophobe who distrusted anyone that wasn't from Land of Fire and believed anyone else to be inferior to his people. The list of people involved anyone from Land of Lightning, Land of Earth, Land of Water and Land of Wind. He had been born with a strong sixth sense that allowed him to feel and avoid anything he deemed as foul. This only made his xenophobia grow even further and pushed him into delusions that he held the future of pure humanity on his shoulders.**  
**He ignored the cries of his own people whenever something assaulted one of his villages. He believed that ninjas only wished to corrupt the purity of the people and had his own men round up and kill suspects. He refused to provide a single piece of ryo to ninja clans and also had the most orphaned children in his part of Land of Fire.**  
**He had been one of the few aristocrats who didn’t make a deal after their alliance. He knew that something was very wrong with them the moment they entered the room and didn’t want to get involved with something that wasn’t pure-blooded like himself.**  
**This also made it problematic to make him vow his silence to them.**

"If you want to point fingers at someone then point it at yourself! The only reason I, I mean we, have lost shipments has been solely because you don´t trust anyone but your own men to do it. If you had allowed me, I mean us, to be in charge of it then this incident wouldn’t have happened," Asaka shouted.

Chiura pointed one of his stubby fingers at Asaka and gave a stare of paranoid accusation at him. "Aha! There it is! Why would I be so stupid to give up the control over my mine to a couple of greedy brats like you?"

Asaka looked like a mixture between insulted and angry with bared teeth and annoyed eyes. He replied in a rapid manner. "YOUR mine!? Like hell it is! It's mine! I mean OUR mine! And just because your bloodline originated from Land of Earth doesn’t immediately mean that you have more right to it than I! I mean WE have!"

Chiura became more intimidating than usual as he frowned in anger at him.

"My bloodline originated from a proud family of samurai and the day I will let a filthy line of thieves and whores lay their dirty hands on the mine will be their last."

It could be considered a sign of luck that none of the aristocrats were allowed to bring weapons into the council chamber. 

Asaka raised his voice even louder and now looked furious. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?! Oh, that´s it! Nobody insults my ancestors and gets away with it!"

He left his seat with clenched fists and ready to unleash hell.

Chiura mocked him with a taunt. "Oh, so you finally decide to come out from your hidey-hole you little rat? Fine with me!"

He too rose up from his seat and made it painfully obvious that he was thirty centimeters shorter then Asaka. This didn’t go unnoticed as he openly mocked Chiura now.

"Bring it on, you little shrimp!"

This made Chiura´s face go red like a boiled lobster and he bared his yellow teeth in anger.

"I will eat you alive! You rat!"

The others in the fellowship decided to not intervene and simply watch as the opportunity to get rid of some competition arrived. Some of them even crossed their fingers under the table as they prayed that one of these two would perish.

At the other end of the table, Ikune shifted between amusement and annoyance over the childish behavior of the humans. Joji noticed the bothered eyebrows on her and raised a leg to interrupt the quarrel between Chiura and Asaka.

"Wait…" Ikune merely whispered and Joji slowly lowered his leg again. He looked directly at Ikune for guidance of what to do next. "Nine humans are such a bother. Joji, get up and stop them in person."

Joji looked at her for a couple of seconds and then something devious began to appear in his eyes. He lifted his legs off the table and down on the floor before he hurried towards the soon to be combatants.

He made it just in time and held them both apart with his hands on one of their shoulders. They both looked up at him and looked rather annoyed over having their quarrel interrupted.

Asaka looked utterly disgusted by Joji´s hand on his shoulder and violently shrugged it off.

"Get your hands of me you filthy low blood!"

Chiura didn’t show as much xenophobic hate as Asaka but he still didn’t like Joji´s touch. Or the fact that Joji couldn’t reach down to his shoulders and stopped him by a hand on top of the head instead.

Ikune once again leaned forward with her hand on her chin and the impatient look, just like any mother would do when the quarrel of her children drove her to the edge of her patience.

"This is just pathetic. Two adult men who act like toddlers fighting over a stick. I wanted a nice and normal meeting for just this once but clearly you don't."

They both looked at her and she began to stroke her lips with her right pinky finger in slow circular movements, a little habit she had whenever she began to enjoy something.

"You leave me no choice. Chiura!"

The short man looked at her in an annoyed manner and she asked in a calm tone, "Do you have heirs?"

"No, my last son was assassinated by the rat here."

Asaka turned his eyes on him and shouted, "That wasn’t me!"

Chiura just gave him a narrowed and evil eye before Ikune asked something else of him, "You control the majority of the human population of Land of Earth. Isn't that correct?"

"Yes," Chiura grumbled as if he was a cornered dog in the forest. "And if my memory serves me well then I have already promised you my silence in exchange for that power you mentioned."

Ikune seemed pleased with this and turned her head towards Asaka instead.

"Lord Asaka."

He didn’t seem to like the sudden change of the atmosphere, like he stood in a courtroom and was about to be judged.

"How much of the Land of Fire do you control?"

"A fourth of it."

"Do you have any heirs?"

"Yes, two daughters."

"How old are they?"

"Three and four years old."

Ikune had a deep and eerie look in her face that even made Asaka forget about his anger. He knew that the man and the woman where filthy creatures in his eyes, but he also knew that they should be feared by his intuition. Not a single sound had been made and it felt like he stood in the presence of a great predator now.

Ikune asked something else, "Is this your only family?"

"My wife and my daughters are the only family I have."

"Do you love them?"

Asaka looked down and considered how carefully he picked his wife. She had been chosen from one of the finest families with pure blood, a pure body and a pure spirit. He had been so satisfied over this since a pure wife would only produce the purest of children for him. It had been his dream to make sure that the purity within the blood of Asaka survived. But to ask if he loved his family or not would be a greater insult than to be called a rat. In his eyes, they were as pure as fresh snow from the sky and therefore, worthy his full affection and care.

Asaka nodded and Ikune seemed to think about something. She turned towards Kudou next.

"What would happen if his bloodline came to an end?"

Asaka´s face paled and Kudou replied with a great interest, "His territory would fall to the three remaining bloodlines of Land of Fire."

"Would you miss him?"

Kudou looked in Asaka´s direction and could see the obvious disbelief in the even paler face now. He smirked. "No."

Ikune turned this question towards the others. "Would anyone miss him?"

Much to Asaka's horror, nobody said anything to protest against it. They just shook their heads slowly and some of them even began to grin in excitement over the thought. Most of them had made deals with them in exchange for their silence and power. Asaka was one of the few that hadn't done that and he knew he was now caught in their trap. If nobody disagreed with the implied suggestion then it would be carried out.

  
"Hey, this is a joke right? You seriously can't be doing this."

He stopped himself as he realized that not only could do it, they would do it.

Asaka began to talk with increased panic, "You can't do it! I'm one of the Fellowship. I try to keep the Land of Fire pure. You can´t just take it away from me."

A feigned and pleading smile appeared in his face as he tried to make someone change their mind. No reaction came and he shouted, "DO YOU KNOW WHAT I HAD TO SACRIFICE!?"

He quickly turned his head towards one of the few others who hadn't made a deal with them, Gato.

He began to plead a little bit. "Hey, Gato. You don't agree with them right? You know that they're not pure, don't you? Since you didn’t make any deals…"

Gato simply kept his mouth shut and looked the other way. Asaka became furious at him over this betrayal.

"That's just like you… YOU LITTLE COWARD!"

Ikune interrupted his shouts with a callous comment. "Seems like we have a winner. Joji, hold him tight and restrain his hands."

Joji quickly managed to capture and constrain both of Asaka´s hands with just one of his own. There wasn’t a problem holding him down and Asaka tried to struggle out from the iron grip.

"You dirty cowards! Don't you see that these people will defile the purity of the human race with their influence! They will defile the pure and true humans into something wicked. I can´t let that happen! I´m the savior of humanity. I need to keep it pure!"

"Shut up. "This came from Fukumoto who didn’t display much emotion from the commotion. She spoke to him in a calm and even satisfied tone, "We grew tired of your constant ranting about purity years ago. It's about time that you got silenced."

Asaka screamed in the denial over it and even managed to dislocate his own shoulders as he tried to get lose. Joji pushed him down in the table and the prey in his grip collapsed to the table incapable of moment while shackled by the strings of suffering. Ikune made a signal with her hand and Joji let go of him. Asaka remained on his spot and couldn’t get up with his broken mind and arms. He could see that the others just showed him their satisfied grins and Sagawa waved with her hand in a farewell.

Ikune spoke to Joji who waited patiently with his arms crossed, "Be fast and do try not to leave a mess."

Joji smirked and grabbed around Asaka´s neck and twisted it like a doorknob.

A pleased grin spread among the others as Asaka's lifeless body slumped over the table and slid down onto the ground. Nobody seemed to mourn or regret the decision as their own personal agendas had taken a big step forward towards utter dominance.

This was one of the things that this two had changed with their involvement in Hiroiri. Before them, none of the aristocrats would ever dare to go up against each other in the open and definitely not one-on-one like that. They would also never speak openly about what to do with an aristocrat´s family like that either but the duo had slowly changed that.

As a neutral party, they could carry out the decision to eliminate those that they deemed as dead-ends without much remorse. The others didn’t protest either since killing off the competition only benefited their own interests. They had realized that their political game of control had become much more dangerous with far greater rewards then before. They didn’t need to go through great lengths and time-consuming schemes to eliminate one of the others. It was simply enough to push one of them to the edge in the presence of the emissaries and hope that they would kill them instead.

That was the reason to why nobody wanted to end the alliance with them as well, since the reward would be complete domination over the Fellowship for the last one that survived.

Gato looked down at the corpse of Asaka and remarked in his mind, _How interesting. I thought that I would need two or three more assassination attempts on Chiura for this to happen. Guess he was weaker than I thought._

Chiura seemed to be rather pleased over this development and headed back to his seat. He never made it a secret that he hated Asaka for his purity rant. Even the air seemed to have changed with the death of a bloodline.

Sagawa began to chuckle a little bit and the mood within the room lifted itself further. The fellowship couldn’t care less about each other, but at the times when one of them died, everyone couldn’t help but show their joy over it.

Amachi brought up a parchment and a feather pencil from within his silver robe and crossed a name from the list of bloodlines.

"Asaka, gone."

He kept that list as a reminder over those he needed to kill for complete dominance.

Ikune looked over at Joji.

"Shall I ditch this guy now?" Joji asked.

Ikune shook her head. "No, wait until the meeting is over."

Joji moved back to his seat and assumed the same posture as before, only with his hands behind his head this time.

They all ignored the body and acted as if it didn’t exist. Ikune was about to point at the next person when she got interrupted by one of them.

"Wait, there´s something I was curious about."

"What is it?"

The person in question was Kimura who looked suspiciously at them all.

"Is that offer still available?"

The others looked rather shocked as that topic even managed to get mentioned.

Ikune gave him a long look and a small interested smile spread in her face. She closed her hands together and asked one more time, "So you wish to accept it now?

Kimura only nodded and refused to look around on the others, tired of the games for survival.

Kudou seemed to have something else in his mind as he quickly rose up and pointed at him with an accusation in his angry eyes.

"Stop being such a fool! If the world finds out that there´s low bloods within our ranks, they will refuse to provide their support to us!"

Kimura shouted back to his defense, "So what!? The Temple of the Great One can provide just as much support as the masses and if you decided to take a look at the fees of them compared to ninja clans, then I would rather support these guys. They don´t try to leech us!"

Another hit with Joji´s heel at the table and they both silenced at once.

Ikune spoke to them both and suddenly looked serious now, she leaned back in her chair for a short while. "You should really calm yourself down Kudou. Your heart might not be able to handle any more of this."

"I`M FINE!" Kudou roared back and suddenly silenced as he clenched his teeth together. He held one hand over his chest and slowly sank down into his chair once more.

He frowned in pain and confusion as the others provided an interested look at him.

Gato remarked in his mind gleefully, _Seems like it finally decided to take effect. I guess I have to pay the medic ninja double after this._

Kudou felt how another beat of pain spread through his chest and how his left arm went numb. He looked around as he grasped for air and didn't know who to trust in this place. He tried to leave his chair and failed to stand up as he fell down into the floor. The others just gave him pleased looks of superiority and glee. 

Kudou only muttered in panic, "No!"

His heart stopped and he lived for another thirty seconds that he spent in agony over having lost to them.

Kudou passed away in agony.

Nobody said much after that and one of them looked over the Amachi.

"Did he have any heirs?"

"No," Amachi muttered as he scratched off another name on his list. "I told Kudou that he would regret not taking care for his health. All those fatty foods and lack of exercise didn't do him any favors."

The others just nodded.

"And then there were two," Ikune sarcastically remarked.

Joji, on other hand, showed a pleased smile.

Ikune brought the attention back to herself once again. "I will take care of the arrangements for the deal to be made. Anyone else here wish to discuss it?"

Nobody had anything else to say about that issue, at least for now, and Ikune went to the next topic.

"Good, now I have something to ask all of you. How´s the doujutsu user we lent out for you performing?"

They all looked at Amachi who had been the one that made that request in the beginning.

Amachi had known in advance that his competitors would try to hire and request new weapons to be used in their political war. He wasn't any different since he had requested a bodyguard for his own family´s safety. But he had made a request to the Temple of the Great One to provide him with a means to identify all conspirators against him, everyone who used the power of the yokai races against him.

They had provided him with a main house Hyuuga they managed to "recruit" from their own missions, a young woman that could see with a bit more details than the usual Hyuuga with the Byakugan. She could tell details in the aura and the environment from several miles away and had an artistic sense to draw it in great detail as well. All she needed was parchment and ink. This had been his advantage since only he and his family had the key to her cell. That had been the reason to why he still remained as the ruler of Hiroiri while the others tried to catch up with him. But the request had come with a high price.

He had learned that a little over four years ago, before he had set up the barriers and locks in her cell, Lord Miyake had violated her and gotten her pregnant. The woman gave birth to twins, and the girl was always kept in the cell with the boy allowed to wander in Amachi's section of the fortress with more freedom. They both had their mother's appearance and powers, and made sure to stay hidden. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the mother died shortly after giving birth. Recently, both the boy and girl had succumbed to injuries and sickness. In fact, the seer girl hung on longer than her twin and finally died yesterday.

Never before did they bring her up, and the man hoped they didn't suspect anything happened to her.

"Just fine. I have managed to catch five conspirators the last two weeks," Amachi replied. He ogled at the others with implications of accusation in his eyes while he talked away. "I´m pretty sure you all knew about this."

Ikune gave him an emotionless stare as she instead asked, "I hope so. But if you don´t mind, I wish to check on her just to see that she´s really okay."

"Why? I told you she´s fine."

"So you say, but we will have to use her talents for later and if she´s not rested and exhausted by then we will have to wait here until she has recovered. And if she has not been treated as we expected her to be then you can kiss that head of yours goodbye."

The others in the Fellowship immediately began to scheme as they now had a new target to expose. 

A series of smug grins spread among the others with the exception of the emotionless Fukumoto. Gato didn't protest against it since he didn't have anything but his own influence to keep him alive. The others didn't even bother actively trying to get rid of him since he never spoke up or tried to kill them.

"Chiura should…"

"Don´t even bother." The short man rose up from his chair as to leave. "I´m not so pathetic that I can´t defend myself."

"And where are you going?"

"To get my axe."

Chiura left the room and Sagawa asked with a look at the corpses, "Well, two bloodlines are better than none I guess. How are you planning to smuggle these bodies out?"

Joji replied with a tricky grin in his face, "It will be easy. Fire can easily erase their existence."

Miyake turned towards Ikune and asked a cautious question, "So I guess all the serious topics have been dealt with?"

"Not quite, but since the atmosphere is much nicer when there´s less people in the room. I guess you can chat a little."

"Good, because I have one question."

Ikune seemed to be patient with him and he leaned towards her and whispered, "Can I get three more added to my harem?"

"No."

Miyake rose up from his chair and left the room along with Kimura who kept a distance from him. The mood between the aristocrats had been a little brighter by the deaths of Asaka and Kudou bloodlines, but they would soon return to their own schemes and try to stab each other in the back as usual.

Fukumoto left the room without a single word and a shadow left the darkness of the wall. Her bodyguard had been there the whole time and followed her around in a dark outfit that had hid her out of sight.

Sagawa remarked to herself that she needed to hire new servants and left the room after a planned appointment with Joji. After that, she left the room and only Gato and Amachi remained in the room.

Ikune asked with good intentions towards them both, "Anything you wish to say?"

Gato sat there for five minutes and then looked down without a single word said. He left the room and didn’t need to run this time. He didn’t have the energy to do that after the rush to the meeting in the first place.

Only Amachi remained and he looked as serious as ever. Ikune knew that he could be considered to be the ringleader of the Fellowship and the one with most power among them. He never did anything without a second thought.

"You two," He spoke with a calm and experienced voice without fear towards her. Ikune and Joji paid attention as he spoke to them. "What is it you and your masters get from all this?"  
No reaction from either and Amachi received a confused question in return from Joji. "Excuse me?"

"You people came here and wanted to make an alliance with us, in exchange that we wouldn’t reveal your existence to anyone nor interfere. You offer us the means to eliminate each other without a second doubt and we accepted it, but what do you expect in return from us?"

"We only expect your silence. You can see this as a further investment if you like," Ikune answered him.

"What can you possibly gain from our political game?"

"Does it matter?"

"What would happen if we went out from this deal? If we told others about you?"

"Oh, nothing pleasant I´m afraid. I will have Joji here kill you all to make sure you won´t say a word and I doubt the others would like to pull out from this alliance either. They have been very grateful to have protection at any hour of the day without the need to pay for it."

Amachi looked down and Ikune talked away.

"If I recall it correctly, then it was you who wanted a bodyguard for your wife and child. And I can say that Tohru has done a good job this far."

"That´s true, but where did you get these things to begin with?"

"You don´t need to know that."

"And why do you want the seer you placed here to draw every single active ninja that enters Hiroiri´s borders?"

"None of your concern but we might need to stay here for a little while. Just to arrange some minor details."

Amachi let out a tired sigh and left Ikune and Joji as he needed to attend to his other duties.

The door closed behind him.

Joji looked back at Ikune and got off the chair with ease.

"How bothersome and annoying."

"Did you say something?"

Joji scratched the back of his head and asked as he moved over to the two bodies and set it on fire with a quick fire nature jutsu.

"I thought that we try to get rid of people like these so why are we helping them?"

Ikune looked in his direction dully.

"Why should we even bother with politics?"

Ikune only had one complaint and annoyance could be seen in her face as a pair of frowned eyebrows. "Do you know what an aristocrat is?"

"A swine in in a nice suit?" He guessed sarcastically.

Ikune snorted, trying to hide her amusement at his words.

"An Aristocrat is someone that has taken the role as a leader. They force their subjects to pay taxes, work without pay and to give up some of their food to them. They also have to decide if they should hire ninja or not since the town can't pay for the fee themselves. What can you tell by this so far?"

"Those aristocrats are jerks?"

"Yes. I would not go to that short length of jerks but you got it right."

"The aristocrats are making the people suffer and take advantage of them and we will turn this suffering on the aristocrats instead?"

"Try again."

Joji just mused with his thumb on his chin.

"We help the Aristocrats, so they won´t tell on us?"

"Nearly there."

"But I don´t get it! If we want them to stay silent then why all this trouble? We could just kill them!"

"Joji, the temple have already considered that and that wasn’t a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Because they would just be replaced with their heirs."

"Then we kill them to."

"And then there´s the witnesses in this fortress. Not to mention the connections and their statuses as advisers and co-rulers of civilian forces in the different countries."

"Just kill them."

"It would be a bloodbath."

"So? I'm a Jashinist. That's how we usually prefer things."

"And people will move in and begin to ask questions about how said bloodbath happened."

"Well, shit." Joji cursed before looking at the young woman. "What will we do?"

"We will pay a visit at "Mirror-Eye", check on her and ask for a certain person´s face."

"Who?"

Ikune rolled her eyes and just shook her head.

"Joji, if you don´t even remember that then I can't help but wonder if you were dropped too often as a baby." She shrugged then looked at him seriously. "I will only tell you this once so listen well."

-

In one of the many corridors of the Fortress, Miyake moved with swift steps and displayed his displeasure in the open. He needed to get back to his quarters and his personal bodyguards before his competitors could assassinate him. He threw a suspicious look over his shoulder to make sure that nobody followed him and muttered to himself in annoyance.

"That bastard! Who does Kimura think he is? Well, if he´s willing to turn sterile for the sake of power then I can finally pull out my piece. What an idiot. He openly announced his decision. I won't complain though. I´m ready for it."

He looked up and noticed one of his messengers approaching him in great hurry.

"Miyake! I have news!"

The messenger delivered a small letter and Miyake impatiently ripped it out from his hand. He recognized it as the one he sent two weeks ago to the Uchiha clan for a small matter.

He began to read it and a pleased, sly smile appeared in his face.

"Good. You can go."

The messenger had looked nervous by the eerie expression Miyake had as he read the letter. He quickly excused himself and left as fast as he could.

"My favorite is coming here. That's so fortunate all things considered. Kimura can rot in hell before he even will enjoy his power," Miyake said with interest as he went through the letter once again.

He walked calmly within the parts of the fortress that could be considered his property. He soon reached the safest room in his quarters.

-

Fukumoto took her time as she didn't have anything to fear with her own shadow to protect her.

Her bodyguard, a woman with a shaved head and dressed in a tight dark outfit, asked in an intrigued tone, "Kimura will be a threat if he proceeds with the arrangements. Do you wish me to eliminate him once he ceases to be human?"

Fukumoto considered the thought with a bored expression and replied with a short and cold answer, "No."

  
"But your highness…"

"I don´t need to do anything about it. Do you know why Keina?"

Keina kept her mouth shut and Fukumoto spoke up with a bored tone, "Because that's what these other morons are made for. I won´t need to soil my hands with their filthy blood unless necessary."

"You will accept the arrangement as well, your highness?"

Fukumoto stopped in her steps and Keina stood right behind her and looked down at the back of her head.

"Keina," Fukumoto spoke with a faint voice and immediately turned around on the spot and grabbed Keina around the bottom of her head. She pulled her down towards her own face and looked dead serious with a hint of endless anger behind her gaze. "Look into my eyes."

Keina couldn't respond as she had been conditioned to not do any harm towards Fukumoto. It had been a part of the arrangement with the group that Fukumoto would receive a bodyguard that couldn´t be bribed or betray her at any point. She could see the odd-colored eyes and nodded.

"These eyes are the undeniable evidence that I´m a Fukumoto. They grant me the rights to the family fortune and influence."

"Yes."

"I would never trade them away for the eyes of a low taking yokai just to get more power."

She let go of Keina once her point was made clear and they continued their walk.

"Miyake will handle the problem for us."

  
"That hound?"

"Yes. He has waited for this to happen from the start and he´s also the reason to why I never try to assassinate him either."

  
"He has a weapon against what Kimura will go through?"

Fukumoto chuckled an emotionless laughter and said in a vicious tone, "He´s sure a hound with such dirty secrets under his pillows. We won´t have to get involved in this for now."

  
They continued to her own private quarter and Fukumoto didn't worry as she had her shadow to watch her back.

-

Sagawa moved through the hallways of her domain with a smile on her eerie face. To know that both Asaka's and Kudou's bloodline had ended in front of her eyes had made her day complete. She had planned to have him poisoned two weeks from now and realized she didn't need to waste it on him. Instead her efforts would be directed towards the elimination of Chiura. But then she had to worry about what Kimura was about to do as well.

"That stubborn little runt won´t know what hit him, or should I hire some archers to finish the job instead?"

She was approached by one of her servants and she snorted in disgust over his presence.

"Took you long enough. Bring me my mirror."

The servant carefully handed over a small handheld and elegantly carved mirror to her. She immediately picked it up and held it to search her own face with a compulsive obsession. She used her free hand to tap her face and her eyes traveled over the smooth skin in pursue of wrinkles, grey hair or any defect in her youthful appearance.

She was flawless, at least in her mind, yet her own fear of the passage of time had begun to drive her over the edge.

"I´m beautiful, just like always. Don't you agree?"

She turned her head down towards the servant who muttered a response in fear. "Y-yes. There´s n-n-nobody like you in the whole world."

Sagawa returned her gaze towards the mirror and admired what she saw. "A good result from all those treatments. Which reminds me… You!" She yelled to the servant who jumped back in fear by her shout. Her tone made it sound like she was talking to a piece of trash. "Bring me my medic ninja at once! I need to speak with him."

"Of course, Milady."

  
He rushed away and she headed towards one of the dungeons and her "bathroom".

She constantly fought a battle against time as she tried to maintain her youth in any way possible. She had tried countless potions and herbs that would keep her face young and pretty forever. The last couple few decades though, she had tried a new treatment where she leeched on the youth and life force of others to sustain her own.

She met another servant outside the door, along with a couple of her loyal guards. She asked in an arrogant tone, "Is everything prepared?"

The servant spoke with an obedient tone, "Yes Milady. Your bath has been cleaned and ready for use."

"And the treatment?"

"The girl you chose was gagged and is ready to be sacrificed to you."

Sagawa displayed a satisfied and morbid grin as she asked something else, "How old is she?"

"Thirteen, Milady."

"Perfect! Is there anymore in the storage?"

"No, this was the last one."

Sagawa spoke with some annoyance directly at the servant with anger. "I can´t have that, I need my monthly special baths after all! Get out and find me some more!"

"The usual age? Milady?"

"Of course the usual age! Just make sure you don´t pick anyone above the age of fifteen."

Her servant bowed and replied a polite response, "It will be done, Milady."

Sagawa didn't bother with details and entered the room with muffled screams for help within it. Sagawa would take her time to figure out a counterattack against Kimura, but she refused to let it intervene with her baths in the "fountain of youth" as she called it. She began to consider the same offer that Kimura had accepted mere hours ago, the opportunity to remain young forever for the price of sterility sounded more of a temptation now. She might even consider it and tell the emissaries that she too would be ready to accept the offer.

The muffled cries for help began to annoy her and she decided to solve that problem first of all.

  
Sagawa turned towards her servant once again. "And before you go, please sacrifice the girl first."

"As you wish, Milady."

-

Joji opened his eyes widely and in great shock from what he had heard.

"Holy shit. That's fucking insane."

Ikune bit her own lip in displeasure as she inhaled deeply in frustration. Joji still remained in shock and tried to put two and two together and accept it.

"So the royals... Seriously?!" He stared wide-eyed and let his mouth babble air. "Holy shit." He frowned greatly in huge confusion and disbelief as he turned towards Ikune. "Is that even possible?!"

"Apparently it is. Nothing is impossible. You know our rulers as well as I do, or thought I did."

Ikune sounded more than displeased and Joji knew that he better get out of this room before Ikune unleashed her anger upon him.

"Okay, I understand. I think I do. They must have their reasons. I think I'll go back to the guestroom and forget all about this conversation. Maybe get some decent sleep as well."

He stood up and headed towards the exit as soon as he could.

Joji reached the thick doors and left her in peace as he closed it behind him without a single sound.

It was quiet and she tapped one finger in the table as she tried to accept the thought herself. It was something truly unbelievable and she couldn’t understand why it turned out as it did.

Ikune left the room soon enough and headed to the dungeon where the woman had been placed. She prepared the operation for Kimura in her mind as she left the chamber.

-

Miyake reached the elegant double-doors that lead to his quarters. He almost couldn´t hide his excitement as he pushed the two doors wide open and enjoyed the sight of his own personal throne room.

Gold and a polished granite floor shone from the candlelight from the huge chandeliers. A blue carpet that lead from the entrance to his throne that been gold-plated on his request, divided the floor in two through its colored stripe. He enjoyed the chance to display his wealth at any opportunity and made his throne as a piece of art with two women in marble which held up the back of it. These sculptures were even equipped with a pair of sapphire and ruby eyes to enhance the grandiose appearance. There were also three doors behind the throne with different purposes. The one to the right lead to his treasure room, filled to the brim with jewels and gold from the mines. The right lead to his collection of elegant pieces of art such as paintings and rare objects he bought.

The middle door was his most important room and also the safest one in his part of the fortress.

His bedroom.

Usually he would head straight for it but instead he moved over to his throne. After all, he had a guest to attend to.

He looked around and said, "Any minute now. She won´t have the nerve to be late to an invitation."

He leaned to the right in a comfortable position with legs crossed.

A servant appeared at the entrance and his voice barely made it over to Miyake.

"Lord, your guest has grown impatient from waiting."

"Let her in."

"Sir?"

The servant didn't sound so relaxed and Miyake raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Nothing. I will show her in."

The servant vanished for a short moment and he hid his pleased smile behind a smug one.

The doors opened and the sound of armored boots got muffled by the carpet.

_Let Kimura become a monster. It´s not a big deal anyway. I already have the solution to that problem._

The steps stopped and he gave the requested visitor a good look.

The grey and silver armor shined like the gold he used to decorate the walls. The female body stood straight and proud with the brighter grey cape and the handle of a long sword tilted to the left behind her head. A symbol of the Uchiha clan was on a black cloth died around her neck. He could see the short pitch black hair that pointed in spikes backwards as to keep the focus on her face and the single strand of hair on the left side over her forehead. She had the charisma of arrogance to her but now her black eyes had been filled with great annoyance and defiance over his presence.

He had sent for a ninja from the Uchiha clan after all and requested to have this one for a reason.

-

Miyake spoke with a slightly comfortable tone as his on arrogance and superiority slipped through his voice. "Welcome to my palace. It has been a while hasn't it?"

Kurumi looked at him in pure dislike behind arrogance and didn't answer him. It was obvious that she didn't enjoy his presence.

"That´s cold even for you. Long trip?"

Kurumi remained in defiant silence and she looked at him like he was trash with a face filled of hate and disgust.

He gave her a single command. "Kneel."

  
Kurumi refused and he repeated himself in a more demanding tone as he tensed his eyes.

  
"I said kneel!"

Kurumi inhaled a slow and deep breath as she closed her eyes and kneeled forward with her right hand on her knee with the other along her body. She bowed her head down and hid her eyes from his relentless and greedy stare.

Miyake gave her a superior and arrogant smile as he got his will through and changed his demand.

"You don't have to worry. What will be spoken in here won't leave this room. You can greet me now."

Kurumi remained silent for another minute as she collected her words and fought herself to say them. What came out from her lips sounded forced and yet respectful.

"Greetings Lord Miyake. I´m here as requested. What do you want from me this time…"

She clenched her left hand slowly until the point that it began to shiver in restrained anger. She inhaled a sharp and deep breath as she looked up and nailed her eyes into Miyake´s, eyes of true arrogant anger and forceful acknowledgement as she struggled to say the final word.

Kurumi looked up to the man in the throne and spoke the final word like it was an uncomfortable and heavy burden.

"Father."

-

  
Sakuya awoke and sat up, but it was likely too fast for her friend since he said, "Easy there. You were hit worse than me when we were captured."

  
She opened her eyes with some difficulty, feeling the dried blood on her face crack a little as she stretched. "What happened?"

  
"Some crazy Uchiha woman, not that they weren't all crazy to begin with, attacked us. We were knocked unconscious and clearly moved a long way." Tobirama was pissed and he kept on scratching something around his neck.

When he explained what he recalled happening, Sakuya grimaced. Kurumi had found and attacked them when they were training, likely thinking she was betraying the clan. Or she was just that much of a bitch.

She had a desire to kill Kurumi or at the very least make sure she died for this. 

The fact her friend was still scratching his neck forced her to look at that area. Around his neck was a black leather choker. Thin clear gem shards were on one side of it, with the same size and type of shard was on the other side. The gems there had an faint blue hue to it.

There was no key or latch, and she had the feeling it was preventing Tobirama from using chakra.

"And that's when you got your new accessory?" Sakuya asked. "And here I thought you were getting into BDSM and being dominated."

It said a lot for the passage of time and their friendship that Tobirama didn't even ask what she meant by that. There was just this done expression on his face.

"I'm eight. I really don't have an interest in that kind of thing."

"And I'm five. Age is just a number, and don’t say that until you try it."

"You are wearing one as well." Tobirama said, pointing at her own neck.

_Huh. That explains the tightness around my neck. I don't feel any difference in power though._

Sakuya shrugged. "I'm more into the domination than submission, but I don't mind switching."

Tobirama clearly had no idea what she meant, other than it being perverted. "Still eight and you are still five."

"Just wait. Many prideful, arrogant, domineering and obsessive people on the street are meek and submissive in the sheets."

"For the love of whatever is out there, shut up!" Tobirama snapped. The white haired boy's raised voice frightened the other children and it startled even her. "Can't you be serious and not troll something for a moment?!"

For a fraction of a second, she shrink in on herself and eyed him warily. She forced herself out of that situation and looked at him seriously. "I joke, mess around and troll in serious situations because if I didn't, I might panic or be too stressed out to figure out how to survive. It eases my tension."

Tobirama seemed to deflate once he understood what she was doing. "I see." He scratched the collar again. "Can you cut this off me?"

She raised a suspicious eyebrow at that. "Isn't it blocking your chakra somehow?"

"Yes."

"And they removed all of our stuff when we were caged?" Well, everything on our person at least.

"That does seem like the most likely outcome."

She put her hands on her hips and leaned toward the boy. "Then how the hell am I supposed to do that?!"

His answer was so sure, so confident that it took her back. "You are Hikari reborn right?"

_The fuck is he-_

  
Her thoughts stopped dead as memories of what she told him and Hashirama over the last few years floated through her mind. All her powers, knowledge, and foreknowledge were blamed on her being some rebirth of a legendary hero or some rot...and he actually believed that wholeheartedly.

  
_Well, shit._

  
Tobirama seemed hopeful she could free him. She couldn't let him down.

  
"Of course I am!" She cheered, lightly hitting her chest as if that would make it more truthful than before. "Just stay still. No moving okay."

Tobirama nodded and she got to work.

Wiping the sweat from her brow, Sakuya realized it was enough to make a single knife made from water and did so. Her hands were damp and cool from the water, and since it was stable only for a few more seconds, she lunged at Tobirama.

The Senju didn't flinch or shiver at her moving quickly to him with a sharp weapon and it made Sakuya realize something. He trusted her completely.

No ninja would do such a thing if they didn't trust the other person. The only other reason was if they didn't think she was a threat or serious but Tobirama did.

A faint twinge of some forgotten emotion moved within her but she pushed that away as she sliced the leather collar off both of them. The water evaporated as the shredded collars fell to the ground.

With a flick of her middle finger, dark blue flames consumed the items, destroying it in her muted rage.

Tobirama was too busy flexing his neck to look around so she did instead.

Sakuya turned to look at the other children and she could see they lived on the street for a long time. Filth and scabs covered their flesh and their eyes were tired, cold and on the verge of being lifeless and hopeless.

Sakuya sighed in the dark and at the iron bars in front of her.

_I can sense the despair and countless deaths here, and I can smell large amounts of blood throughout this fortress._

She frowned, her face twisting in anger over the implications and the scene around her.

"To treat children and human beings like cattle or toys is unforgivable."

Her tiny hands clenched around the solid bars and she shivered a little bit. 

She frowned in suppressed rage and the bars began to pull apart slowly. The other children began to wonder what the sound was but she ignored them for now.

Sakuya changed her grip and pushed the bars instead and made a single heavy push.

The children screamed a little as the bars on Sakuya's and Tobirama's cage bent like they were made of butter and broke completely. She stepped outside the cage followed by Tobirama and could hear how the children wondered in fear and confusion.

The children couldn't see them and Sakuya spoke to them with an assuring voice, "Please be calm. We are here to save you all."

She had an idea to try to see if instead of just fear, if infusing one’s chakra with another emotion for a different purpose could change the effect.

She concentrated on positive things like calmness, security, safety, warmth and compassion then spiked her chakra enough for those in the room to feel it. Almost immediately, the children started to relax and calm down, their cries fading away as they moved towards the only door in the room.

"I will go and find the keys. So please be quiet and wait here."

The children listened to her voice that been adapted to provide comfort.

"Okay, big sister."

Sakuya sighed in relief over the fact that they wouldn’t make any trouble for them.

_Let's see, the key should be in here somewhere._

Sakuya opened the door and the lights of torches entered the room. She peeked outside to make sure no guards approached in either direction.

_This is going far too well. I feel like I'm entering a boss area._

She stepped outside and made up her mind over the next step.

_I just have to track down the blood scent to get answers._

"Excuse me." A girl´s voice got her attention and she turned her head back at them. "Can you leave the door open for a little bit? It´s scary here."

Sakuya's face softened in sympathy and understanding. Even if it went against her desires and instinct, she felt this might serve her better in the end.

"Of course."

"Thank you."

Sakuya smiled a little as she left a small gap in the door to let in a small ray of light. She left them and headed to the right with fast steps.

_I will be back with the keys, after I figure out what is going on here._

Tobirama was shaking his head at her consideration. 

-

He didn’t wait long to make his opinion known. “That was foolish.”

  
She didn’t spare him a glance and looked around the long hallway. She had sensed at least one of her uncles here, and figured he was there for a different reason than she was. The darkness and fires of Madara were pressing down upon her, comforting and guiding her.

But it was the cool, distant and fading away candle of Izuna that was really scaring her.

“They were civilians, Tobirama. They aren’t used to this kind of thing, and being caged like that only to be left in a dark room would be havoc on anyone.” Sakuya said professionally. “And their crying would have only brought attention to us since we broke out.”

He frowned but didn’t continue on that topic. Instead, he changed to something she had done. “How did you calm them down into a docile state?”

“You know how chakra can be used to paralyze and frighten people by using killing intent right?” Sakuya asked.  
Tobirama nodded.

“Well, I applied the same concept but for a different purpose, which was to calm them the hell down.” She stopped then grinned savagery. “I wonder what other ways I can use this empathy like thing?”

“You are really creepy.” Tobirama said bluntly.

“And I suggest you keep your chakra active since you were affected by it as well.”

She felt the ocean beside her become stormy at the revelation.

“We are going to die,” he said rather ominously for the douchebag he was. “There will be blood and death before the end.”

“No one’s going to die.” Sakuya said soothingly “And even if you did, I’d just bring you back so we can chill and take this as it comes. Calm down.”

  
“That should not have been as soothing as it was.”


	5. Powderkeg Cities

The white clouds over Hinoiri darkened as the hours passed by and the people left the streets for their homes as night fell upon the world.

  
Only the torch-lights in the hands of Hinoiri’s guards could be seen as they patrolled the narrow streets in search for disturbances. But unknown to them, a long figure leaped over the rooftops with ease as he avoided the patrols with caution. The only goal he had in mind was the Fortress in the center of Hinoiri and discovering what happened to Izuna after he was sent there to eliminate some people.

The walls approached Madara rapidly and he took the moment to match his movements with the patrolling archers in the fortress windows.

The light of a torch vanished in the window he targeted and he moved up from the rooftop with ease. With one foothold at the window edge and quickly followed by a secure grip around the edge in utter silence, the black haired boy clung to the wall like shadows. A quick look in both directions and Madara quickly entered the shadows of the first hallway and the closest room he could find, a small supply room.

The next archer passed by and the door to the room closed without further suspicion.

“Find out what happened to Izuna, discover why Kurumi had been sent here without permission from father. If possible, complete mission of eliminating the nine families and their bloodlines by any means necessary,” Madara said in a low voice. “A good starting point is searching the private quarters of this Fellowship and going after the weakest link.”

He turned towards the door where he came from and began his infiltration mission at once.

-

The night ticked on as Gato sat with a pen in his right hand and a parchment in the other. The sweat gleamed in his forehead from the dim candlelight on his desk along with more parchments as he wiped the drops away on his sleeve.

  
His private quarters were the smallest and contained shelf after shelf of scrolls and reports from his part of the continent. Several smaller objects such as decorative obsidian stones weighted them down and prevented them from rolling away.

  
He read through the parchment in his hand, written in a sloppy hand style.

  
From the mayor of Akamatsu: "Honorable Gato, we have reason to believe that there´s a corrupted creature in our village. There have been ten dead in three weeks along with crops dying after some strange signs were found in the village. We can´t afford the fee so we humbly ask for your help. Please send for help from a ninja clan. We beg you on our knees."

  
Gato looked through the letter once again and wiped the sweat from his face with his left forearm.

  
Akamatsu was Kudou´s responsibility. _I can´t believe that all these requests got stacked up like this. I thought that he burned these as soon he got them, but then again, am I the only bloodline that has to handle all the others paper work?_

  
Gato scribbled his signature on a second parchment that contained details of a corrupted creature hunt. It would be sent to various clans the next day, along with a dozen others in a second pile of letters marked with his seal.

  
_Just a couple of more and then some sleep._

  
He stopped writing as a faint sound got his attention.

  
_No, my bodyguards stand right outside the only door. They are loyal. At least, I hope they are._

  
Gato rose up from his chair to investigate if everything was in order.

  
A small hand fell on his right shoulder from behind and he nearly got a heart attack from it.

  
"What the-!?"

  
His voice was muffled as a dark clad arm wrapped around his neck and his hands were restricted by a second hand in a split second. A darkly amused boyish voice echoed in his ear with intimidation behind it.

"Not a single sound."

Gato flickered with his eyes in increased panic as the fear for his life moved through him. His immediate thought was who or what had managed to sneak inside his room.

"How did you get in here? Where are my guards!?"

"Dead."

The voice belonged to someone little more than a decade old and that made this all the more insane to him. The figure behind him let go and moved around to a shell of parchments and pulled out one of the letters. He couldn't make out any features of the youth.

-

Madara looked down at the letter and noticed something that he pointed out. "Look at this, a request for emergency aid from a town that couldn't pay."

He looked directly at Gato as he finished the sentence.

"It was denied."

Gato looked much paler than usual and began to put up defenses for his actions.

"What?! Wait, that´s not mine. That was Asaka's. Who sent you? Tell me at least who it was so I can curse him or her."

Madara's eyes widened slightly at the threat toward one of the few people he cared about but managed to keep calm. He would prove how unwise such things were soon enough.

"Gato, you will answer all my questions without hesitation."

Gato narrowed his eyes, catching the unspoken words.

"If I co-operate then you will let me go?"

No response from the boy, only brutal silence.

"Okay, what do you want to know?"

"No backbone at all," the boy remarked with an amused tone. “How pathetic.” His mood soured more as he asked, "How did the Fellowship get involved with their current problems?”

"We were contacted by a group of people who offered us all protection and power around five years ago."

 _Around the time that Sakuya was born then. Surely that isn't a coincidence,_ Madara thought to himself.

"What is their name?"

"The royal youkai...”

Usually he didn't have a problem with this new life of his, it was largely the same as his first life during the warring states era, but there were moments when he wished he knew more about the past of this world so he wouldn't get caught unaware like this.

The Royal yokai was obviously some movement, but Madara didn't know much more than that.

"Is there corrupted beings within the ranks of the Fellowship?" Corrupted beings were something he knew about at least. Twisted life forms born from blood, bone, flesh and chakra or distorted living matter.

They also exist where too much blood had been spilled...or were created.

"Yes."

"Can you tell how many of them are involved in this?"

Gato nodded his head repeatedly, likely thinking he would survive. "Yes! I have detailed information about each family's involvement, down to every single agreement. They all offered their silence."

Madara held back the next question as he thought to himself, _It would appear that my sister was correct in her observation of this lineage. The Gato bloodline were cowards and opportunists of the worst and most annoying type. Sakuya had, or would have, limited dealings with another Gato, but they were equally as annoying and bothersome. If this man was wiped out, there would be no Gatos left after him for them to deal with._

"Begin with Kudou."

"The bloodline was eliminated a few hours ago. He has corrupted beings among his personal guard."

"Fukumoto?"

"The previous title holder died five years ago. His daughter took over the throne and ruled since then. I don't know about her agreement with the rulers except for a personal guard they provided."

"Chiura?"

"He relies on himself and agreed to enforce his own position. Offered silence in exchange for demonic power. He's almost like a corrupt being himself."

Madara's eyes flickered. "But you can't be certain?"

"No, he always stays to himself."

"The Miyake bloodline?"

"Silence in exchange for a harem of eleven women."

"Any details about them?"

"None, but servants have disappeared when asked to clean his private quarters. I suspect he feeds them as food."

"Anything else?"

"The Asaka bloodline was wiped out as well. Amachi has several strong corrupt beings, ninja, samurai and an Hyuuga sensor. Kimura has agreed to abandon his humanity for the sake of power. They will turn him into some type of corrupted being."

Sensing that was all the information he was going to get, Madara killed the man and he walked out just as he heard the short scream die off behind him.

Madara looked down at the ashes of the guards without much of a change in his expression. He slowly glanced around the hallway.

The entire fortress felt profoundly wrong for some reason. Everything was off and even the air and atmosphere itself was darker and hinted at the great loss of life in these walls.

"Look at you! Killing people for the one you lo-"

Madara glared at the blond haired male. Suspecting Gavin and Royce was linked to what was going on was one thing, having one of the meddling fools indirectly confirm being connected to her was quite another.

"It's not like that," Madara stated.

Royce smiled knowingly at the young boy, a strange twinkle in his ice blue eyes.

"Right," he drawled out. "You aren't desperate to get senpai's attention."

The well dressed young man raised his hands up in defense when the boy had activated his three tomoe Sharingan to glare at him.

"Ah, that's right," Royce said all of a sudden. A strange knowing and sympathetic expression crossed the man's face as he looked at the ten year old. "You only briefly experienced such an sensation before the chance was taken away from you. We, in our infinite mercy, brought you here to try again at life and perhaps even more... As was the initial part of or our deal."

Madara turned to look at the man fully, his mind racing as he slowly grasped at what he was hinting at.

"Do you mean to tell me that-"

Royce interrupted the smaller male by pressing a finger against his lips.

Madara's eyes widened slightly at the sudden movement.

_How did he move so fast?_

With another blink of his eyes, Royce had moved back to where he was already and didn't seem to have moved at all. If it wasn't for the lingering feeling of his finger in his lips, Madara would even say he didn't move at all.

"I will neither confirm or deny anything that involves her," Royce said firmly. He crossed his arms and looked down in thought. Quieter, more to himself he added, "I am surprised at his reaction and response to the concept. Perhaps I should keep an eye on that development?"

Royce suddenly lifted his head and turned in a specific direction, his eyes narrowing into slits.

"It would seem that Sakuya is having a change of plans." He glanced back at Madara and left a rather ominous statement behind as he wandered away. "The lingering emotions, resentments, and other horrors are getting to her."

Madara didn't know what to make of that so he decided to check on some of the lesser families, quietly destroying guards as he followed the dwindling traces of his brother’s chakra..

-

One of the guards walked around with one of the torches and kept his attention up, one hand at his sword.

  
He had the feeling of being followed but had confirmed it to be simple paranoia.

Unknown to him, he had two very silent observers right in his shadow.

  
Tobirama looked around as he tried to not draw attention to himself. It wasn't hard to hide since his short posture allowed quick maneuvers if the guard would turn around to check.

He glanced at his friend who was noticeably distracted for a change, and it was odd to see since she was rarely distracted. Sakuya was always multitasking so seeing her so unfocused was weird.

Her eyes darted around widely, seemingly focusing on something he couldn't see and she was very tense. Not out of fear, or at least not her own.

Sakuya had been like this since they entered the massive fortress and it was only getting worse by the moment.

She sniffed the air like an animal would and judging from her resigned yet determined expression, Sakuya could tell where the closest blood scent was strongest. 

She suddenly turned her head so their gazes met.

Pale red met dark cherry red and they saw the others resolve and felt relieved that they weren't alone.

They reached a three-way corridor and Sakuya could sense that the blood where the strongest from the left. But that hallway lacked torches, like it contained something that shouldn’t be seen. The guard headed towards the right and she simply averted from the course without further bother.

Metallic footsteps approached them from the front and she noticed a guard further ahead. This one didn’t have a torch and she decided to enter the darkest corner she could find.

She held her breath, Tobirama following suit, and the guard slowly walked right past their location.

The guard stopped and Sakuya silently readied her body and hands to crack the man's neck should the need arises.

Nobody moved for a short moment and then the guard looked in the opposite direction of her and she slowly moved deeper in the hallway and along the wall. 

The guard looked at the spot they had been in mere seconds ago. She froze immediately and did everything to not be seen easily.

Another minute went by in utter silence and Sakuya held her breath as she counted the seconds.

The guard muttered something and then moved on.

"Get a hold of yourself. Jumping at everything again."

He didn’t raise any alarms and she sighed in relief once he got out of range.

Tobirama sighed in relief as well.

"That took a few years off my life span," he mouthed.

Sakuya quietly chuckled.

The scent of blood filled her senses and she headed towards it once again.

It was foolish to do so in hindsight, but there wasn't enough information on the place itself to go elsewhere. And knowing where to go first was better than wandering hopelessly.

"I don't feel so good," Sakuya said more to herself than her companion.

Tobirama looked over at her in concern but didn't say anything.

-

Ikune moved through the barely lit hallways and rows of dark doors that lead to filthy holding cells. Each one held a number of inmates that had to share their room with corpses of their roommates. The smell of dried blood and corpses filled her nostrils, a smell that annoyed her to no end.

  
_I should have known that they would mistreat her. These conditions are inhumane._

Helpless pleading came from within the cells, some of them with powerless whining to accomplish it, reached out to her.

She simply ignored it as she moved forward towards the door at the far end, the one with three heavy iron bars that blocked it from the outside and darkened wood.

_I have already wasted enough time with Kimura´s transformation. I need to get this done._

She arrived at the far end and in front of the door and began to pull the bars one and one.

"So much security. Makes sense. She has become a weak point but this is not a way to treat another human being."

The last bar slid away without much effort to her and she grabbed around the door handle all with determination in her eyes and a serious tone.

"I hope she hasn’t broke down from the stress."

She opened the door and realized there was no sound in there. There was no signs of life, and the scent of death hung heavy in there.

The cell appeared before her and the sight made Ikune sick.

Parchments, countless of newly made parchments with scribbles and faulty faces all over them. Countless amounts of worn down pens and brushes lay in scattered disarray along with empty ink horns. Illuminated by four torches in the corners and attached so tight that they wouldn’t drop and ignite all the arcs, the content of the room came into light.

In the middle of this cell, a single table with three piles of empty parchment and ten ink horns lined up. But the person of interest was not who she thought it was.

The corpse of a young girl barely over four years old with ink-stained fingertips and the outer ends of her long bushy dark hair stained was strewn over the artwork carelessly. She was dead for a while, maybe a week, but before that was malnourished and severally weak and thin. The dried in black stains in her clothes made her appear as a beggar.

In the northwestern corner of the room laid a male child who looked exactly like the little girl was well into his first month of decomposition. In the northeastern corner of the room was a woman who was four or so years dead and wasting away.

Ikune looked down at the family and clenched her left hand slowly as she experienced hate with such intensity that anything she felt prior to this moment.

_Amachi, the day we decide to end this alliance, I will be personally attend to your execution._

Ikune got down on her knees and picked up the little girl. She moved the dead girl to her brother and mother, before uniting them together for the first and last time.

It wasn't her element, but she used a blast of fire to burn the bodies once they were holding each other.

For all her crimes, she still couldn't stand seeing someone suffering unjustly.

A stray thought went through her mind as fell into the meditative state completely.

_I just hope Joji doesn't do anything stupid now._

-

In a rather large room draped in silk curtain and several paintings of older men and women with odd-colored eyes decorated the walls. A large circular carpet covered the floor and a large double bed with red silk sheets in the far end of the room.

  
Fukumoto stood by one of the largest paintings, a man in a fur robe and with long brown hair. She looked up at it with apathy and her bodyguard stood right behind her as she had been conditioned to.

Keina turned to the right and remarked, "Your highness…"

"Silence."

"But…"

She looked down at Fukumoto and could tell that she shouldn’t open her mouth. Instead she raised her voice obediently.

"Asking for permission to speak, your highness."

"I will allow it."

That was a small habit that Fukumoto had with her subordinates and those in her service.

"I advise that we should leave the fortress of the Fellowship tonight."

"You think you can order me around, Keina?"

"No, but I believe that they won´t stop."

Fukumoto turned her attention towards Keina as she ogled to the right at her with emotionless eyes.

"When did you have the right to think on my behalf? Don´t forget your place Keina."

"Your Highness, I have been ordered to keep you alive no matter what. Even if it means that I have to think far ahead of you."

"Don´t insult me." There was a complete lack of emotion from her as she continued in a logical tone. "I already know what to do here Keina, and I know that I won´t be harmed."

"Your highness, please consider a retreat."

"I never retreat. Not when the battle has already been won, so we stay until I have seen them all die."

Keina looked down at Fukumoto and wondered in silence.

You might be the brightest mind I ever saw in a human, but you don´t know anything about the world I come from. I must obey your orders. I will stay until the end.

She straightened her back and looked up at the painting.

"So that´s why you haven´t gone to sleep yet?"

"I slept two days before this, so I will stay up all night."

"But surely your summer palace would be much safer than this snake pit."

"I never retreat. And there´s no point in traveling at night anyway. I already told you that I wanted to see this from the moment Asaka and Kudou died."

"I see. What will you have me to do? Give me orders, your Highness."

Fukumoto looked back at her with one eye of calculating depths and then turned back to the painting.

"We don´t have to do a single thing. Just wait for now."

-

Three hours of vivid and lengthy explanations of what needed to be done and his own superiority in comparison with the others in the Fellowship.

Then another two hours of how lowly the people were when he went through the undecided requests from the areas he reigned over. Letter after letter that he took time to read through, only to mock how they were written once done with one.

"Why would I even have to bother with trash anyway? Can't they just stop wasting my time and keeping me away from my women? Or what do you think?"

"A-"

"Like I cared about your opinion. Keep kneeling. I wonder what I should do with this one."

He had pretended to think through a decision and then just tore the letter in two.

"I'll just replace them later. Corrupt beings and rogue ninja are a good way to take out the trash, don't you agree?"

"B-"

"Shut up half-breed. I will probably let them suffer a little more just for fun. If only the corrupted beings could kill those pieces of filth that think they´re worthy of stealing my rights to the throne as well."

Corrupted beings that needed to be killed or dealt with peacefully and with the towns unable to pay due to unreasonable high taxes from him, Miyake left alone to their own devices. He rarely took time to accept the requests for help from his own subjects. On his good days a single request out of twenty could be granted just because they had more potential to bring in more gold to his own funds. But the others either ended up in the trash or unanswered pile behind his throne. He picked up the next one and read it out loud with an amused and wicked smile on his face.

"Oh, I like this one. 'Dear honorable Miyake: Please, we beg you on our bare knees and on all fours as well. We praise your kindness and will even kiss your feet if you can humbly grant your all mighty hand and bring a hunter to our town. We beg you. The corrupted beings has already killed twenty of our citizens and we have to lock our doors in fear for our own life. Please your honorable and generous highness, please send help to our town, and we will praise you for the rest of our lives."

He stopped for a short moment and an unsettling smile of mockery spread as he went through it again. "Well, isn’t this delightful letter? I´m almost flattered by it. So I guess that I have to…"

He grabbed it with both hands and finished with a wicked look in his eyes. "…deny it."

He tore the letter in two and threw them away to the sides. Kurumi clenched her hand a little and he talked away. "Seriously. They dared to have the nerve to not call me Lord? What did I expect from such trash in the first place?"

Kurumi looked down at the floor like she had been ordered to and learned the hard way to not disobey her father. She had no choice but to listen to him no matter what.

"It's such a burden to be of such importance sometimes. Oh who am I kidding?! It's wonderful! And I think that even you who share half of my bloodline should know that."

"Ye-"

"Did I tell you to speak!?"

Miyake´s slightly annoyed face turned into a pleased one from Kurumi´s forced silence and he began to talk away again.

"So kill Kimura for me once he becomes a monster and if you see that little runt Chiura then kill him too. Those mines are too much for his small hands."

Miyake sat on his throne and down at Kurumi who had been forced to kneel the entire time since she arrived.

Kurumi wasn’t happy as she had to reply with dignity and respect in her voice. That her shadowed face frowned in annoyance and hurt pride indicated what she really wanted to say went unnoticed.

"Yes, but I think that…"

"Excuse me?" Miyake asked with a slightly disturbed yet wicked tone as he rose up from his throne and slowly walked over to Kurumi with his hands behind the back. Kurumi looked down at the floor and his feet as she could hear him approach. He spoke again in a much gentler yet threatening tone. "I might be mistaken, but did you say something?"

Kurumi kept her head down and swallowed a lump in her throat as she repeated herself. "I think that…"

"On all fours."

Kurumi lifted her head and asked in a confused tone, "Wha-?"

"I said…" She didn’t get much further as Miyake grabbed at the top of her head with one hand and sounded dead serious and arrogant. "…on all fours!"

He then shoved Kurumi´s head straight down into the carpet with a muffled thump. Kurumi had been caught off guard and laid down on her stomach with the soft fabric at the right side of her face.

Before she could rise up, Miyake stomped down on the side of her head with his left foot and looked down with a glee. Kurumi didn’t struggle but tried to lift her head just a little bit so she could see his apathy and wicked eyes.

"You think? Who do you think you are? Just because you have my bloodline, it doesn't mean that you are my equal. And if that wasn't bad enough, you're also a woman. Do you know what that means? It means that you have no right to speak in my presence. No right to question my orders. You don't have the right to be here without my permission and as long as you're here in Hinoiri you won´t even breathe for any other reason but to serve me. If it had been up to me, you wouldn't even have the right to have a name of your own. Have I made myself clear? You're something so weak and insignificant that you wouldn't even be capable of killing an insect with your foot, but that comes with being a woman I guess. You´re also my blood therefore…"

He began to press her head with increased strength between each word and pressed her deeper into the carpet. A cold and wicked grin held the corners of his mouth up as he looked down at her in pure superior arrogance.

"I OWN YOU!"

Kurumi didn’t make a sound as she closed her eyes in pain over the ruthless treatment and he stopped after a minute of applied pressure. He still kept his foot on the side of her head as he asked in a cruel, cold voice, "So do you understand?"

Kurumi was silent.

"Good! Now speak."

He lifted his foot away from Kurumi´s head and she slowly rose up on shaking arms. She had a footprint on the left side of her head and had left a deep imprint of her profile in the carpet as well. She slowly began to stand up but was interrupted by Miyake once again with a demand in his tone.

"I never said you would stop keeling, so kneel!"

She forced herself to kneel once again and looked at him with dim eyes and a stoic face expression now.

"Kill Kimura and Chiura if I see him."

Miyake looked down at her with a slightly pleased grin and simply turned his back at her.

"Took you long enough. Now stop wasting my time and leave this room."

Kurumi looked up at him with a hidden emotion behind her eyes and got back up on her feet. She tried to get some of the dirt from her face off and once again was interrupted by Miyake who coughed.

Kurumi flickered with her eyes for a short moment before she bowed her head forward and replied.

"I wish you a good night honorable Lord Miyake."

"Report back to me once the deed is done. Dismissed."

Kurumi backed away and headed towards the only exit with calm steps and a stoic yet bruised face. She closed the door behind her and Miyake spoke to himself in amusement.

"Now, I better deal with more important issues."

He walked past his throne with a smug grin and his hands behind the back. The object of his interest was the door in front of him, the one with silver-plating and two carved keys in a cross over it. He pulled something out from around his neck, a black iron key and inserted it into the lock with ease. The grin grew more pleasant when he opened up the doors and the lights of candles flowed around his silhouette.

From within this room, a series of faint hisses and strained gasps reacted to his presence along with the soft sound of sheets that moved down.

Miyake grinned in overjoyed and selfish pleasure as he remarked to the eleven female silhouettes in his bedroom.

"My kittens! Your master is home!"

He closed the door behind him as he began to undress and walk towards them.

-

Kurumi stood in the corridor a dozen of meters from his door and leaned against one of the walls with one hand and lowered her head. Her eyes contained a stoic yet angered stare that grew in strength as she bit her bottom lip and the corners of her mouth shivered. The hand she used to touch the stone wall clenched slowly and she let out a small outburst of her emotions.

She swung her fist sideways into the wall.

A small circular impact crater appeared where she slammed her hand in and she stared down with clenched teeth. She didn’t like to be humiliated or having her pride hurt, but she could also not stand up to her father either.

_"You shall not kill the client."_

She repeated another quote from her mother's teachings.

_"You shall honor your father and mother."_

She clenched her teeth together and began to mutter in a hurt manner and small tears in her eyes. "Say my name. Is it really so hard to say my name?! Just once?"

She slammed her hand in the wall again and the crater expanded a little bit. The rattle of swords and clings of metal boots approached her from behind. The closest patrol of two guards hurried in her direction and with the swords out of the scabbards.

"Who´s there?! Who are you?"

Kurumi´s eyes opened wide in anger and she turned around with a furious arrogance and pride. The guards stopped two meters from her and one of them remarked, "Hey, it's that Uchiha again."

"What´s Miyake´s love-doll doing outside his quarters?"

Kurumi displayed an expression in extreme despise and felt tempted to pull out her sword to teach these guards a lesson. She wouldn’t just stand and take such insults from those she considered to be lower than her.

"Go back to his quarter and we won´t…" One of the guards said while he pointed his sword at her.

"Kneel." Kurumi´s voice contained such constricted fury that it staggered the two guards.

One of them asked in a little scared tone. "What di…?"

"I said KNEEL!"

She nailed her stare into their eyes, a stare filled with such contempt and hate that it could pierce through a tree trunk. The guards shivered and slowly fell down on their knees as her stare paralyzed them. They kneeled down and feared for their lives as they couldn’t speak in fright.

Kurumi kept her prideful anger in a stare at them and spoke with an armor-piercing order. "On all fours and kiss the floor! You filthy commoners!"

The guards looked up for a short moment and one of them was about to say something. "Who do-?"

"Do it or DIE!"

The sheer dominance and anger behind her voice forced them down on their hands and their heads down face first.

Kurumi looked down at them and some of her wounded pride began to heal in arrogance. She breathed quickly and she spoke with a cold voice, "Good. Now forget that you saw me."

The guards nodded and she turned her back at them as she walked towards the lower dungeons.

She muttered something to herself as she returned to a superior facial expression.

"Kimura first then Chiura. Will you be pleased with me then? Father?"

  
-

From his vantage point on a rooftop overlooking the fortress, Gavin leaned back against the wall. A single pitch black twenty-sided die with pure white numbers was idly tossed up it the air and caught by his right hand repeatedly.

  
He eyed the fortress with a predatory glare.

"Built upon abandoned relics, forgotten legends, sealed monsters and the bodies and souls of hundreds before the city was remade, is it any wonder that the area and people are so cursed? It is ripe with delusions of superiority and grandeur contaminated each of the families from the beginning and they indulged their desires and hopes on the lives of humans under their control."

He looked at the building one final time before dismissing it.

Gavin tossed the die once more and at seeing the number grinned in a blood thirsty manner.

"This entire city and the places under it's control is just an overly large powder keg that is about to blow."

He looked at the number twenty on the dice and wrapped his hand over the item.

"And everyone knows that only Uchihas can provide the raw amount of pyromania needed for this task."

-

Joji yawned a single time as he rose up from the bed slowly and rubbed the back of his head. He looked around at the modest little room that could house fifteen people with good margins within it. A simple bed, some drawers and a log that hanged from the ceiling in a chain and with visible punch marks on it decorated it. The last one had been put up by Joji himself and served as warm-up for his training.

There was also great disarray and mess in his room which was the first thing that met his drowsy eyes.

"What in Jashin's name? What happened yesterday?"

A short rehearsal of the events that gone on until the black spot in his mind, to his knowledge.

"Arrived in Hiroiri. Training. Attend the meeting. Something then black out."

He rubbed his head again and Joji sat there for a couple of minutes in complete silence.

"Nothing."

He sighed as he slowly rose up from his bed and noticed his vest thrown over a drawer.

"Well, Ikune would know what we're supposed to do here. I better go and find her so she can brief me about it. Oh wait, she will probably scold me again for forgetting about it. What could it have been?"

He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and walked across the messy room filled with splinters from the log. One fast swipe and he grabbed his black vest with his left hand and suddenly frowned in confusion.

"Wait, I was supposed to do something. I remember that much. What was it? Something with bodies."

He stood there and thought with the vest at hand as he got the feeling it was important to remember just that detail.

_What was it?_

-

  
Sakuya had begun to notice that the number of guards decreased as she moved further within the dim hallways. The only thing in her concern for the moment was the thick and nearly maddeningly intense scent of blood that filled the hallway. It was so strong and dense that she could almost taste the blood on her tongue.

She gulped and could feel how a hungry grin slowly twitched up in her face. The urge to destroy, fight or worse was growing along with something even more out of character for her.

It was hard for her to care about most people, or even tolerate others, so wanting to fight, hurt and even...

Well, it's definitely not a good sign.

_Focus. Stay focused…_

Another shake with her head to scatter the hazy thoughts of blood and odd hallucinations. She had nearly reached the source of the thick blood traces within this part of the fortress and needed to make up her mind.

This was nearly a little too much for her as the residual impressions of the scenes, emotions and so on of those whose blood was spilled slowly leaked into her awareness.

The blurring of the past, of intense residual impressions and the souls of those who passed was always troublesome for her to deal with in the present or everyday life. 

Sakuya really didn't need this now.

She could restrict herself in public but in close quarters with no attempts at appeasing the memories of whatever happened and a blood scent that could be cut through with a knife was almost too much for her to handle. 

Sakuya held up her right hand to her head and looked bothered over some pain in it. She moved to the left and leaned against the wall for support.

It felt like someone drove a spike into her ear and out through the other side. It maddened her to a certain degree; she wanted to let loose and satisfy her curiosity and their need for revenge so badly. It drove her mad from it and the hallway filled up with a dense red morning fog along the floor.

It was darker than Sharingan red tint, and whatever it was began to affect her sense of reason as she snapped in and out from the trance.

"Saku?"

Tobirama's voice pulled her out of the trance and the fog faded away drastically.

She looked up to see him watching her with with great concern and curiosity.

_Tobirama is pretty worried, huh._

Another shake of her head to scatter the hazy thoughts of blood and odd hallucinations and she was back in the game. They had nearly reached the source of the thick blood traces within this part of the fortress and needed to make up her mind.

She walked away from the wall and Tobirama followed her cautiously.

-

Joji had begun to kick the log for practice in rhythmic kicks from the side. It was a way for him to focus his thoughts and something he enjoyed as well. He knew that he had forgotten something that was important and on his own regard since he only forgot things he chose to.

"What was it? I´m sure there was something."

He continued stare at the hanging log which wobbled in the air from side to side.

"Why do I have a feeling that I forgot something important than that?"

He stopped for a while to rest his leg and went at the log with his fists instead.

"Something that Sagawa woman wanted."

-

Sakuya stopped and looked up at the door in front of her. It was made with dark hinges and thick wood like the ones in a dungeon.

It was difficult to stay calm and collected now as the blood scent appeared as a red wall in front of her eyes. It whispered to her. It wanted her to enter and drown in the delightful feelings and secrets it offered. 

She waved with a hand to scatter the illusion in front of her and searched for the door handle. It had not been the first time she had to discard these illusions and impressions as they crept up on her most of her life. It was usually only in infested areas, places with tons of residual impressions and energy, and in general were places where great horrors and misfortune occurred.

Sakuya had simply discarded these as just that, illusions of a tired mind. It was better to focus on that being illusions than actual scenes of what happened before.  
Ignorance is bliss and all that.

One fast thought passed through her mind as she grabbed the handle and pulled the entire door outwards, _Please be cool and not be something that would fuck me up._

-

Joji´s next kick broke the log in two from extensive and repeated damage inflicted on it. He spoke with annoyed realization as he reached a conclusion.

  
"Shit! I was supposed to do that too!"

  
He kicked one half of the log gently, making it roll across the floor. He remarked with a slightly guilty and amused tone, "But then again, they´re not exactly going anywhere either. I guess it won´t do any harm to let them stay where they are for a little longer."

-

The door stood wide opened and let out the light of torches from within the chamber and over the two children. A shadow grew behind her and appeared on the opposite wall in the hallway and reached her original length. Sakuya didn’t move a single inch from the doorway as she froze up in the middle of the doorway.

  
Her eyes were wide open in utter terror and shock as her half-opened mouth shivered with barely visible contractions. She was frozen in place from the instant sight that greeted her within this room, and the only thing that moved were the eyes that had contracted down in sheer horror over it.

  
A bathtub sat in the center of the room, white as marble and rested on four feet decorated like the paws of wolves, glimmered faintly between the dried in red stains on its surface. Around it, numerous small naked bodies hanged upside down by their feet, gagged and bound with their tiny hands behind the back. They all had a large vertical cut across their throats and been bled out just like pigs in a slaughterhouse, all far beneath the biological border to adulthood and with faces frozen in pain. Blood red footprints that lead to and from the tub marked the floor in a dried in pattern from countless baths.

The thick stench of death and blood filled the air just like water and Sakuya held her breath as it nearly overwhelmed her.

This hadn’t been the thing that shocked her to such degree though as the room filled up with red light, ghostly apparitions of thousands of children, prayers and whispers. Sakuya held her head in a weak attempt to keep them out.

Distantly, she was aware of Tobirama paling beside her and him trying to suppress his reaction to the sight. He succeeded in not vomiting but was noticeably shaky.

"How could anyone do this to another human being?" Tobirama whispered in confusion, his gaze never leaving the bodies before him.

It was humbling to see that Tobirama had yet to become desensitized to violence and the random chance of the world. A large part of her wanted to keep him like that and to keep him alive.

"Simple. They don't think they are humans anymore."

Tobirama looked at her, surprise written on his expression.

He waited for her to finish her thought and didn't have to wait long.

"They treated the world as their plaything, making those under their protection beg and plead for aid like they were gods. These people are far less than human. They will learn of their own mortality down to their last guards this evening," Sakuya solemnly promised.

Sakuya herself had suspected this was a possibility from the beginning. The knockoff Naruto universe version of Elizabeth Báthory was a surprise but honestly she was expecting a lot worse.

As if to point out that sentiment, the red light returned and it was accompanied by distant whispers and pleas.

Sakuya shrugged the sensation off as best she could. By ignoring it. "So much for a fountain of youth."

Or she tried to until a closer inspection to one of the hanging children with broken limbs and the last remnants of chakra proved who it was along with the Uchiha clan symbol on his clothes.

Swaying slightly as if in mockery, was the corpse of Izuna Uchiha.

“No.”

She took a shaky step toward it, the smile on her face breaking and turning empty of emotions as she reached out for it.

Within her mind, a single mantra of Izuna and Izu repeated itself endlessly and quietly spilled out of her stunned lips.

The red world returned and bathed everything in it in a reddish hue. She felt chakra move up to her eyes and activate something, making everything more detailed and harder too focus for a time. It took her remaining traces of sanity right then to put up a genjutsu to cover the Sharingan forming in her eyes at the shocking sight of her uncle’s corpse.

Thankfully, Tobirama was currently absolutely terrible at everything related to genjutsu and wouldn’t suspect a thing.

A set of metal clad steps approached them from the hallway and a man´s voice sent ripples in the red world she saw. "Hey you! How did you get here?!"

Sakuya didn’t turn around and felt a heavy hand on her right shoulder. She turned her head and looked straight up at the man, but it wasn’t an armor she saw now.

It could only be described as a humanoid black thing with no eyes and the lower half of the face turned into a massive maw with three rows of fangs that looked down at her. This sight combined with the red light, the awakening of her Sharingan and the whispers and pleading of thousands of children pushed her to the edge of her sanity.

"This is Sagawa´s private room. No children allowed here unless she says so." The creature slurred in a distorted voice that sounded like a blade jammed slowly forced down it´s throat.

Sakuya shrugged his hand off in primeval frightened panic as she still heard the whispers of children in her ears. She slipped down on the floor and landed in a huge blood puddle with her back. A second guard appeared in the door-opening and the first one turned around at it.

"Go and get a couple of the guys. It looks like two of Milady´s supplies got loose somehow."

"On it."

Sakuya looked down on her hands and the blood on them with fright. Voices began to blend into each other in a nightmarish disharmony as her primal survival instincts were about to get the upper hand.

She had never been so frightened before, or at least since she was reborn. Her emotions began to run wild from the stress.

"I don´t feel so good," Sakuya repeated.

That single tiny voice silenced all the others and her eyes went dim as all rational thought was overwhelmed. The thick fog of blood, the emotional shock over the sight and the horror of centuries of abuse and death in the building got to her. She couldn’t think any longer than short sentences as her body began to grow and distort. Bones cracked, flesh expanded and muscles grew as she stood up on her feet with glowing red predator eyes in her changing face.

The guard still looked the other direction, heard steps from behind and made a quick turn towards them and stared down at a little girl.

_She wasn't a little girl. This was something else. It might look like a little girl, and talk like a little girl, but it sure as hell wasn't one._

The nine tail outlines made from a sickly green chakra whipping back and forth, the upright ears on her head made from a more leaf green chakra, the shifting teeth, the feral eyes, long sharp claws covered with the same sickly green color and the glowing slitted red eyes were proof of that.

Sakuya looked up at him with subtly glowing eyes, relentless anger and intense insanity. She immediately grabbed around his helmet and snapped his neck like a dandelion before he even could react.

He fell down at the ground and the white haired girls left arm swiped at him in a crescent shape. A swift blade of wind struck his body and it tore up the armor like nothing as the insides of the guard appeared with warm fumes from the diagonal cut in his abdomen.

The other guard appeared with ten more of the night shift, only ten meters from the door.

But they all froze in an instant as an unhinged and so terribly amused laughter echoed across the area. It sounded like something born from nightmares as it reverberated in their helmets. It traveled through the entire labyrinth of hallways within the Fortress and didn’t stop in its ferocity and raw promise of retribution.  
Joining the laughter was a drastic change in her presence that made her seem all the more dangerous.

-

Several things happened all at once as the demonic laughter pierced through the silent night.

Keina turned around with wide opened and alert eyes as she grabbed around the handle to her sword. Fukumoto remained with a dull and bored look but with an excited faint smile that now appeared. "Lock the doors for now."

Sagawa woke up abruptly with a facial mask of healing ointment and looked around in complete drowsy confusion. "Huh? Who dares disrupt my necessary beauty sleep?"

Joji got so startled and surprised by it that he took a couple of large steps and accidentally slipped on the other half of his training log. He hit the floor face first and didn’t even complain about it. "What the-?"

Miyake looked up for a whole three seconds before he disregarded it as nothing and continued to "play" with his harem.

Madara and stopped in his tracks as he just finished killing five guards and stashing them in a side room. He focused on the unrestrained killing intent he felt indirectly once before and felt his theory of her true identity was confirmed. He shivered as the dark, oppressive and ungodly essence of the killing intent flooded the entire fortress before leaking out into the city surrounding it. It was made to cause rage, fear, paralysis and weakness in those it touched. "It would seem that things are about to become very interesting. It's been a while since I actually had a challenge."

Amachi woke up in the throne he fell asleep in and immediately gave orders to his body guards. "They made the first move. Gather my private forces at once."

  
Ikune didn’t notice a single thing as she still burning the corpse of the poor family.

Every ninja, samurai and corrupted being within the tower could feel the displeased inhuman aura that now spiked up on their perception and prepared for war.

All the while, Sakuya's laughter continued and terrified every single human within range of the Fortress to the point of being unable to move or think properly.

  
The laughter came to an abrupt halt and the two children walked out of the room with calm steps. The guards unsheathed their swords but couldn’t hide the fact that their hands trembled in utter terror of this deranged little girl and her monstrous aura negatively affecting their judgement, morale, and emotions.

Sakuya looked in their direction with an aura that lack any inhibitions or restraints, free to take and do whatever her desires drove her to and to let every single inch of her frustrations and hate loose on anyone in her way.

They had committed an unforgivable crime towards all innocence and humanity. They took her beloved uncle away from her, leaving not even his soul behind.

They needed to be bled dry.

She took one step forward and the guards took two steps backwards.

Sakuya inhaled deeply before leaping towards her prey.

"Murderers!" She shrieked with distorted vocal cords, attacked and by doing so she had set the powder keg aflame after adding more fuel to the fire.


	6. Prideful

The loud insane laughter and shriek sent the entire fortress into high alert with the private forces of the Fellowship. The night shifts woke up the rest of their respective factions of military that were employed to serve their own masters. Sagawa´s forces where disorganized from the sudden assault and tried to counter the resistance head on with superior numbers. The night shift held the front line in order to buy the heavy guards some time to advance and make preparations for the patrolling archers. But as the lighter troops arrived at the scene of disturbance, they quickly came to realize the grave danger they stood in front of.

  
A number of ten guards confronted Sakuya and Tobirama with two swordsmen in front. They shouted and reinforced their moral as they aimed to stab children in the chest and finish it with a swift decapitation.

Sakuya swung with her right arm in a high swipe towards the first one´s neck. The movement extracted the flow of air in the guards lungs via the nostrils and mouth, and she made sure to prevent any new intake of breath by forming a ball of air around the head, dooming him to suffocation. The second guard swung high with his sword at her from behind in a short surprise attack. She threw up fast gusts of wind close to her body with another motion upwards and the attack was pushed aside.

The deaths and the freeing of souls seemed to stabilize her sanity slippage moment, but seeing the departing blue flames move before vanishing filled her with a peculiar hunger.

Tobirama leered in his direction and stabbed the tip of his borrowed sword through the open visor of the man's helmet. It went straight through the man´s head and his right eyeball. Blood splattered from behind the visor and a heavy cling shivered from the man's sword which hit the ground.

Sakuya nodded her head as she picked up the sword. "Thanks for the assist, Tobirama."

Tobirama cut down the closest target, a slight trembling in his hands before he mentally stabilized himself. "You should be more careful, Saku."

The little girl smiled cheerfully at the little boy. The cute sight was ruined slightly due to the light splattering of blood on her face due to someone's throat being cut.

"I could let my guard down precisely because I knew you had my back."

Sakuya lowered her raised arm slightly as three more guards went at her with weapon raised and in full battle cries.

Sakuya turned her head at them with fierce and wicked eyes as she shoved the closest straight into the wall with a blast of wind before finishing him off with a single stab each into his heart and throat with the corrosive claws. The second guard she paralyzed with focused killing intent mixed with the emotions of fear, remorse and self-disgust. When the man dropped the blade in shock and grasped his head, she pummeled his jaw and head into mush. Teeth were caught in her skin from the dead man, but she didn't have time to take them out yet.

Kicking off her shoes and socks, Sakuya focused on the blood soaked stonework around them. With great difficulty, she ignored the hand prints on the floors and walls, the bloody dragmarks on the floor and the sense of death. Deep breathing exercises helped her become more clear headed and she stomped with her right foot. A sharp pillar of stone pierced the ground underneath the third guard, went up his butt and inner organs, and out his mouth.

She made sure he would be alive for some time despite his impalement.

The other guards retreated back into the hallway but were all wiped out by the two friends fast and merciless attacks.

The guards didn’t even stand a chance as their armors were cut wide open and their insides spilled out all over the floor. The few that weren't sliced into like meat were burned alive, the metal armor cooking their flesh in the process. Screams for help died abruptly in pain as their bodies were gutted like fishes by her wild slaughter.

Another cuirass was torn up by her bloodstained hands and she felt how her strength slowly increased by the deaths around her.

Sakuya felt that being healed or strengthened by spiritual and death or destructive energy was probably a bad sign of things to come but couldn't find it in her to care.

All that mattered was to follow her emotions no matter what awaited for her.

The fighting was done for the moment and Tobirama looked at her strangely.

"You're crying."

Sakuya blinked and raised a blood covered hand to her face and felt her tears wash away the blood off her face.

"Why? I don't understand..." Her voice quivered and she hated this show of weakness.

"These were the first people you ever killed, right?"

Sakuya nodded her head, unsure of what to say. Her heart was tense, beating frantically but her mind was terribly clear. There were no regrets and there were no doubts.

He took her hand in his and carefully removed the teeth from her hand. Once they were free from her skin, the body regenerated itself without any signs of injury.

"I'm not good with people or comforting them. That's something my older brother is better at than me," Tobirama admitted. It must have pained him to admit that but he continued without any sign that it bothered him. He looked down at her hand instead of her face. "It will become easier over time. It won't hurt as much and you can move past it. For now though, just, focus on surviving."

Sakuya knew what he was trying to say but she couldn't help but tease him. "Are you flirting with me, Tobirama? Do you have a crush on me?"

Tobirama grimaced as if the idea appalled him. "One, we are far too young. Two, we are friends. Three, is this really the time to joke like that? And four, I am not gay."

"And yet you are holding my hand like it was the most prized thing you ever saw," Sakuya dryly pointed out. _I can't believe he thinks I'm a guy._

Tobirama dropped her hand like it bit him.

-

The head for Amachi´s private military force directed his orders around to his subordinates as they equipped their plate armors and lances. The state of alert that now ruled the fortress was standard procedure in case of ninja and corrupted being attacks within. They prepared to form battle formations composed of swordsmen in the front, spear men in the middle and archers at the far end of them for the highest advantage.

  
In a rather large hallway, a number of soldiers had assembled to receive their orders and kept their focus on ground level. Scramble of metal and serious chats that turned the force into a loud murmur filled the hall.

"Where´s the report!? We need confirmation of the location and nature of the intruder!"

"Assemble the teams in groups of twenty each and send scouts into the hallways."

"Three teams have been sent to secure the main entrances of our master´s fortress..."

"Keep those doors locked at all times! We can´t afford to fail Amachi."

The men were all busy with securing the perimeters and didn’t notice the lone figure who sitting on the support pillars right beneath the ceiling.

Madara looked down at the hundreds of men that rallied in the room. He had crossed his legs and arms in great consideration as he started to decide his next move.

_These noble bastards have more than enough resources to fund and train their own private armies it seems. Not the same kind of law enforcement in smaller towns either. Definite tactical ability and the leadership of experienced mercenaries would assure their victory in any other case. Decent weaponry, armor and the same standard of training for ninja clans._

He grinned, excited at what was going to happen now.

_Civilians playing at war? How cute._

"What will be the proper course of action be if the others in the Fellowship request for reinforcements?" One of the nameless soldiers asked the commanding officer.

The commander, a man with decorated plate armor and the helmet shaped as a lion's roaring skull, turned his head in his direction. He looked down at him and replied with a short and straightforward response of authority.

"Ignore them and keep the doors sealed. Our orders are to only protect the Amachi bloodline at any cost."

"And if the others break in?"

"Then their forces will be considered an invading army and be disposed of at once. We will hold the line no matter who our opponent is."

The soldier headed towards one of the doors in the hall to enforce his orders and the commander returned to look over a map of the fortress, all to make the strategic moves that would secure their hold of this wing.

 _It's not a surprise that they aren’t much for allies. The members of the Fellowship don't trust anyone they can't control and will do anything to get an upper hand, just like most ninja clans. If one hired a soldier then the rest would do the same and hire even more to get the advantage back. If they hired swordsmen then the others would hire archers to counter. Horsemen get countered by lancers and assassins against each other as they try to save their own hides. Common, if weak, tactics for civilians,_ Madara thought while he kept his eyes down at the soldiers who discussed with the commander.

He wouldn’t be able to get down there without immediate detection, and so he was timing it when they were closest together. In front of them, a map had been rolled out of the interior of the building and its sections. He held his eyes on it for a couple of seconds to memorize it and then let out a satisfied smile.

On the pale and yellowed parchment, a cut through of the tower had been presented and the familiar form that it possessed was revealed. The fortress was shaped like a wagon wheel on the inside and divided in ten equal parts.

_Each part belongs to a certain aristocrat within this place. There are only a couple of entrances that lead to the neighboring spurs and one towards the area in the middle. This particular area can be considered a neutral zone and not large enough to house a total force above three hundred men, hence why it´s unsuitable to use as an invasion route for others. The Fellowship has also been forced into a stand-down since if one member decided to invade with his or her force then their own territory would remain unguarded for the neighbors who would use the commotion for a coup. But this will also lead to a chain of events where all members would send their forces in a circle and both become attacked and attack at the same time. A complete eradication would occur in that case. That´s the reason to why they haven´t used superior military force to eradicate each other._

“That is rather smart and disturbing coming from civilians,” Madara quietly said to himself.

He had expected this kind of things from the paranoid minds of ninja, not these things.

He watched the soldiers rush around as panicked ants for another couple of minutes before noticing that everyone was all together and could be largely eliminated with a single Majestic Destroyer Flame.

After the first wave of fire jutsu seared most of them to ash, Madara jumped down and slaughtered the rest of them.

Once he had finished the massacre there, Madara continued to the area where they sensed some weak corrupted beings masquerade as humans.

It was a hall similar to the one he observed but with the difference in the nature of the soldiers. All of them were dressed in armors that despite their weight didn’t burden them at all. All soldiers twisted around with confused looks in their faces over the newcomer before they noticed his auras and immediately dropped their human disguises in a battle formation. Claws and darkened pulsing vein skin along with feral eyes that glowed in the predatory faces filled the room of its seventy five inhabitants as hostility thickened in the room with them.

An army of corrupted beings, with their undying loyalty aimed towards their master Kimura and trained in the arts of war.

Madara looked around at the crowd of hostiles and began to laugh manically in excitement for a few moments before falling deadly still.

"This will be an adequate warm up."

The corrupted beings made the first move and Madara still laughed as he charged straight at them in turn.

-

Keina looked back to the east and looked a little more nervous now over the presence of two new auras. She turned towards the young Lady Fukumoto who now sat down behind the desk that belonged to her late father. Her small and thin body in combination with the oversized chair that looked like it could embrace around her created an unsettling picture.

This had been her father's office before the accident that took his life abruptly. Keina didn't know the details around it, but the fact that the current Fukumoto hadn’t shed a single tear at his funeral said more than enough. Small piles of letters that contained requests from her territories about ninja and malicious corrupted beings rested in an organized way with ten letters in each pile. A black feather pencil along with an ink horn rested at the opposite side for signing them.

But that wasn’t what had her interest.

Fukumoto had instead put a circular map over the tower in front of her instead. Chess pieces from dozens of sets were laid over it and made it resemble a war map, as she stood and marked the chain of events.

"Requesting permission to speak your Highness…" Keina asked in a obedient tone.

Fukumoto looked up at her with the usual emotionless expression and dull eyes as she answered. "Permission granted. What is it Keina?"

"I noticed three new auras inside the fortress. They might pose a threat."

"Three new? Tell me… are they bishops or knights?"

Keina looked down at Fukumoto who held a pair of bishops from a chess game, a relic from five centuries ago, between her finger in her left hand and two knights in the left, all with a bored expression in a calculating manner.

"There are one of each. There is also one queen."

"Positions?"

"The knight entered Kimura main hall from Amachi´s area. The queen and the bishop in Sagawa´s dungeons has advanced to the west and butchered another ten men. They will soon reach the junction point that leads to the main hall and Sagawa's occupation area."

Fukumoto removed a dark tower on the map then replaced it with a pure black queen and a pure white bishop before removing another five white pawns of the board in response to the later edit.

Fukumoto put the black knight at one of the wheel´s large areas along with a number of black pawns that lingered within it. Several other black pawns had been placed around the map along with hundreds of white pawns to represent humans.

"Has anything else changed since the last time I checked?" Fukumoto asked in her usual emotionless voice.

Keina fell silent as she closed her eyes and used sensing to check. She could see every single trace of chakra within this fortress, illuminating it like a tree full of fireflies. She could tell the exact number of corrupted beings, ninja and even civilians that currently visited the fortress. It had been a necessary skill in order to keep her master safe from any harm, as Fukumoto had requested in exchange for her silence.

"The ritual with Kimura has been completed and he now rests in his own private dungeons."

Fukumoto turned the white king in Kimura's area into a black one.

"Amachi keeps his body guards close to his family´s private area. One stands by his side. It's Tohru, and he hasn’t moved at all."

At the map, a white King stood with a dark bishop and several black towers around a couple of room with white pawns around it.

Fukumoto looked up at Keina and asked, "And what about Miyake?"

"From the odd auras, I can say with great certainty that he´s with his harem and well I think you already know."

Keina refused to give further details as she herself found it embarrassing and plain disturbing with his taste for women. Fukumoto just discarded it as nothing

"Like I care who he decides to hound round with. That wasn’t what I asked for. Where's his doll?"

"Oh. She´s heading towards Chiura´s area, Gato and his entire forces are dead and that´s all."

Fukumoto looked down at the battle map and didn’t display any emotion as she tapped one of the white pawns on her own part of it. Keina looked down and had been around her master long enough to know what each piece represented.

_We have three hundred soldiers, thirty high commanders, me, and then her as our white queen._

She looked to the area to the left of Fukumoto´s as she began to go counterclockwise in her thoughts.

_Kudou has two hundred fifty soldiers, twenty five high commands and a squad of fifty malicious corrupted beings along with a ballista. There is no one to lead his forces._

_Next area that lacked a king._

_Akagi has his entire force of four hundred soldiers shared between the other three aristocrats of his region but at the time being hold in his area. The best soldiers gold could buy and were pure blooded as he so obsessively requested._

The next one with a bloodstained white queen.

_Sagawa has three hundred soldiers, twenty commanders and her staff of medic nins to her service. A couple of corrupt beings as pets along with the recipe to create them in exchange for her silence. But the question is if she brought them along or not._

The next area that only contained a few pawns.

_Neutral hallway that leads out from the fortress and waiting hall for the guests they invite. Thirty guards along with fifty archers._

Next one with a white king that been dipped halfway in ink.

_Miyake… a hundred fifty guards and his personal harem._

Next one with a black king that looked gnawed on.

_Chiura… His personal guard along with multiple corrupt beings and himself of course. He only trusts his own countrymen and himself._

Next one was Amachi´s area.

_One of the most well-guarded ones. Two hundred of the very elite to his along with Noble corrupted beings that have been offered to him in exchange for his silence. And he's a commander of war as well. He wouldn't just stand by the side and watch like the others in the Fellowship. His soldiers will receive orders from him personally._

Next one with the new black king and an army of black pawns.

_Kimura. His new status and three hundred corrupted beings. Safely locked away until he can take command of them again. No human guards there._

She had nearly reached the end and commented about the last area with a white king and a few white pawns.  
_Gato. Fifty human guards and probably the safest area in the whole fortress. Thick double doors in every junction and can be sealed off entirely as a sanctuary from us. Too bad he and his forces are already dead._

The circle had reached the end and she looked up at Fukumoto who considered the next move.

"Notify me in case something drastic happens. Until then we will remain here and only lock the doors to the connecting areas."

"Your Highness! The queen is heading in our direction."

"Not a problem. It's more likely that it will clean Sagawa´s area before that happens and then there´s Kudou´s and Akagi´s areas as well."

She put her hands together as to consider something and then stated, "Notify me when another major piece has been removed from the map."

_It´s all a game to you, isn’t it?_

Keina kept these thoughts to herself and noticed something strange.

"Asking for permission to speak."

"Granted."

"My apologies your Highness, but why aren’t our Temple allies on the strategic map?"

Fukumoto turned her eyes at Keina and replied in a superior tone that still sounded emotionless. "They´re unreliable. Unless they engage the enemy directly or decide to turn against us then I would rather not have them in my plans."

"They can help you."

Fukumoto shook her head. "No. They stated at the beginning of the Alliance that they would let us handle this war ourselves and besides, we can´t force them to act. It has to be their own choice."

Keina looked to the side and seemed to understand Fukumoto´s point.

"Tell me only when they decide to act on their own free will."

"Will do, my Highness."

"Fine. Now let's see how long it will take until the pieces been removed from our political game."

They both looked down at the black knight that been positioned closed to Chiura´s territory and Fukumoto moved it a little closer.

-

Kurumi walked the dim hallways with her claymore sheathed and her chin raised high and proud as she refused to show any mercy after her treatment by her father. Any guard she accidentally ran into had to kneel and apologize to her in an extravagant way to not induce her aristocratic wrath upon them.

It was so frustrating to her since she was forbidden by her father to speak about her origin to anyone, all to avoid the potential political disaster that would occur. It would be a disaster if any of Miyake´s habits reached their eyes as he would be one of the greatest sinners. But the fact that he was treated women as simple toys for his own pleasure and discarded them once he grew bored wasn’t the problem. It was the mere thought that one of the Fellowship would have a bloodline limit holder as a daughter that would cause a uproar. It would give him trouble and Kurumi would have been the cause of it if her father got into deeper problems with the rest of the world.

She didn’t want to do that to him, as her pride forbid her from removing the source of its existence.

She still had a father and an aristocrat to make it even better.

His orders where to be carried out, or she would be discarded like a piece of trash.

Kurumi arrived at the entrance and noticed a group of soldiers who were in the middle of reinforcing it, all according to the orders that been given out by the commanders that Miyake hired to fight for him. Her own father believed that war with trash should be fought with trash and not by the hands of an aristocrat. Kurumi could only agree as she from her own experiences knew how lowly the commoners really were.

She held her head up high and proud as she decided to mark her superiority over the soldiers.

They noticed her arrival and raised their swords by reflex but they lowered them in slight suspicion as they saw who it was.

"What´s she doing he-" Their voices mumbled in despise over that a bloodline limit inheritor moved through the honorable halls of the Fellowship.

Kurumi inhaled in frustration over this and interrupted them mid-sentence with arrogance and domination.

"Silence you commoners! Hear my command and open these doors to grant me passage!"

"Who do yo-?"

"You have no right to speak in my presence! Kneel and ask for forgiveness unless you wish for severe punishment!"

Her voice contained such tranquil pride and anger that the other guards slowly staggered and got down on their knees out of fear of her. Kurumi didn’t smirk but her arrogance slipped out through her dark eyes as she enjoyed this. The guards remained on their knees as she could see how much of a strain it put them on from the weight of their armors. Their voices sounded insulted as they forced themselves to apologize.

"We apologize even if you don´t."

Kurumi quickly unsheathed her blade and held it out so the tip landed a mere inch from the guard´s face. He opened his eyes widely in fear as she looked down with pure and concentrated angry arrogance.

"Watch your tongue commoner."

The guard silenced immediately and the incident wasn’t repeated again in fear. Kurumi seemed satisfied for now and spoke with a voice of complete authority.

"You asked me who I am, didn’t you commoner? Then allow me to enlighten your pitiful and simple minds. I´m…"

She held back the words she wanted to say and had to settle for a white half-truth. "…I´m your superior and handpicked by the Honorable Lord Miyake to lead his military troops in the time of a crisis."

The guards just looked completely dumbfounded and in a total disbelief over the mere thought.

They bowed their heads down and replied in submission. "Understoo-"

"Open that door and let me through! I have wasted enough time with you commoners."

The guards stood up on aching legs and immediately pulled of the reinforcements to let her pass. The double doors opened up and revealed the next hallway that would lead into Chiura´s territory.

Kurumi continued to order the guards around as she went ahead without a much as a look at them.

"Close the door and prepare for my return."

"Anything els-"

"No! Just close the door! Why are these commoners incompetent?"

She didn’t need to say that twice as the guards gladly followed that order to get rid of her. The doors closed behind Kurumi and she remarked to herself.

"I think I´ll deal with his forces first and maybe cripple Chiura. It would only be easier once I return from the execution of Kimura."

She sheathed her sword but kept her hand on the handle as she could feel something lurk further ahead of her. She didn’t show any fear in her eyes, only a pride that wouldn’t budge for anything and a determination to get through with it.

Five minutes of a fast run into the hallways and she encountered a small patrol of soldiers that were on their own way to enforce an important crossroad. Some of them held lances in their hands along with a short sword by their sides. One look in Kurumi´s direction and they all immediately aimed their spears at her.

"Halt! Identify yourse-"

"SILENCE!"

Kurumi´s voice silenced the soldiers and they backed away for a short moment but kept their lances pointed at her. Kurumi now held the handle to her sword in a firm grip as she spoke with the voice of arrogance and authority.

"I, Kurumi Uchiha command you! Drop your weapons and surrender immediately!"

The guards looked at each other in confusion and pretended they didn’t hear the last part. They even replied in a mockery over the situation as they pointed their lances directly at Kurumi and moved closer for their attack.

"Like we would take orders from a -"

Before the sentence even could get finished, Kurumi pulled out her sword in the blink of an eye and swiped it one single time. The lances got cut through behind the spearheads like they had been made of parchment.

The small number of spearheads hit the ground and the soldiers immediately dropped the broken lances in favor of their swords.

"Kneel!" Kurumi demanded with her usual prideful expression.

The soldiers didn’t listen to her and she one of her eyebrows twitched.

"I said kneel!"

Kurumi swung with her sword from right to the left at their kneecaps and cut through them with ease. The men screamed in unimaginable pain as the pieces clashed against each other from the weight and blood squirted out from the holes in their armors.

"You bi…"

"You have no right to speak to me commoners."

The seven soldiers fell down on their wounded knees and another explosion of pain blew up in their heads. Some of them tilted over to the side and held their ruined knees with both their hands as they cursed Kurumi in painful anger.

"You bitch! I'll kill you for this!"

Kurumi looked down at the whining men who continued to throw curses after her as they now would be crippled for life. Kurumi didn’t care about it. Her empathy for the world had run out long time ago. Instead the soldiers raised their swords and held them out on their own throats.

"You won´t escape this. The blood on your blade and our bodies will be the proof of what you done."

"This would only prove that you´re just idiots."

"What did you sa-"

"I don´t have to repeat myself for the likes of you. Lord Miyake has granted me complete amnesty for my actions within this fortress. Go ahead and slice your own worthless throats. Kill yourselves! It would save me the effort."

The soldiers looked up at her on their broken legs and bared their teeth at her in their helmets. They raised their blades and Kurumi kept her eyes on them as they made their decision.

"Either way, we will just be food for Lord Chiura´s dogs now. Rather not be here when that happens. May you turn into dog food, bitch!"

They pulled their swords over in a fast horizontal move and blood squirted out over their necks and down their armor. They collapsed and died shortly after from blood loss.

Kurumi kept her eyes up and remarked to herself, "Dogs? Since when did that glorified miner get dogs?"

She shrugged it off in serious arrogance as she walked right over the bodies without a second look at them. She knew from experience of this place that Chiura was strict and only kept those that could fight around him. These men also came from the Land of Earth and would never betray him since they were paid off so generously by Chiura. It wouldn’t be much of a surprise that he would keep dogs around him as well.

After all, dogs are man´s most loyal companion.

Kurumi looked up and noticed an incoming aura that approached her in high speed. She snorted in contempt as the hostile aura stopped two meters from her and growled.

A wolf, twice its usual size with enlarged bones and muscles that appeared in gaps of the fur and eyes filled with wild glow and slit pupils. The aura spoke its clear language, a corrupt being born from a creature fed with low ranked blood and on patrol duty, trained to follow certain commands.

The wolf growled with distorted and dark sounds as the large claws scraped the floor in preparation. Kurumi looked back at the dead soldiers and reached a conclusion.

They were drawn here by blood from the commoners.

  
The wolf drooled heavily as it bared its teeth and prepared to leap out at her while ignorant of the already unsheathed blade.

Kurumi sighed in annoyance and announced with pride. "I, Kurumi Uchiha, command you…" The wolf jumped her with the huge maw wide open and paws raised to shred her. Kurumi tensed her eyes into it and shouted as she quickly swung her sword. "…die!"

An bestial yelp from the wolf cut short and flesh torn apart by the heavy blade that shed a spray of blood across the wall. The furry body of the corrupt wolf hit the ground at once and she swiped with her sword a second time to wipe out the blood that flowed down along it. A small spray of blood drops decorated the opposite wall and she stomped down on the corrupt beings head in superiority.

She heard something else in the distance, a man´s voice that echoed between the walls of the hallway.

"Release the dogs!"

A dozen filthier auras headed in her direction and the clatter of claws along with aggressive growls increased in strength as they approached. Kurumi walked over the furry body and raised her blade and chin high as she leaned a little backwards and crossed her sword arm over her chest in preparations for a swing. The dogs approached within her range of sight and some of them had muscles visible through the gaps in their skin from the corruption that turned them. Kurumi just shook her head in arrogance and pride as she prepared to battle in these conditions.

One dog down, one hundred left.


	7. Beauty Never Lasts

The soldiers assembled in the large hall and barricaded the huge doors that lead down to the dungeons. Four units with ten men each wouldn’t return again and they did their best to keep the monsters in human flesh that rampaged down below locked in, or at least made it turn and head towards the main hallway instead.

They had been paid to protect the Baroness at all costs, but some of them wondered if they really were paid enough to face the creature that now went on a rampage in the dungeons. One of them turned toward one of the few soldiers who managed to flee from it.

"What did it look like?"

The other one replied in fear and shivered uncontrollably while doing so.

"Oh, you will see soon enough."

"It´s HERE!"

One of the doors wasn’t closed entirely yet as they kept a lookout for the intruder and the guards noticed something that couldn’t be called a human. Merely because it looked human as could be.

The little girl of five or six clothed in bloodstained clothing was just humming to herself as she skipped their way. Her snow white hair was dyed a dark crimson from all the spilled blood.

A gust of a breeze passed by the solider closest to the door, and he paused in confusion.

The commander pointed with one arm towards the open door and bellowed his orders.

"Archery unit! Fire a volley!"

Thirty archers aimed their bows and fired all at once into the hallway.

Sakuya noticed the arrows faster than the archers did. She went down on her knees and bent her back over the floor as the arrows passed above her and missed their target. She stayed down in that position for a short while and looked at the front exit.

The soldiers didn’t need to see much more than that as her wild and hungry eyes had been their signal to close the door at once.

A commander began to provide orders to the assembled soldiers. "Trinity formation! We will hold this door!"

The soldiers rallied up with swordsmen in the front, lancers in the middle and archers in far back. They created three squads that surrounded the now closed door and prepared for the assault.

"It´s just children! We can´t be defeated like this!"

She laid there on the floor and stared with frantic eyes that quickly moved in every direction. They were crazed of fear and panic over what she could see now.

Sakuya's viewpoint was vastly different and downright terrifying.

Everything around her was covered in a red crimson light that began to alter her surroundings. The walls began to melt like candle wax and the ceiling dripped thick, heavy drops as a dark thumping sound echoed through the hallway. The torches looked like scorched human skulls that burned with an eerie light and she could feel the blood stick onto her body in a thick liquid. The scent of blood was so compact and thick that she nearly choked on it and the panic began to spread along with blood fumes which filled her lungs and mind.

Everything began to close onto her and bubbles began to boil up in the ceiling as faces surfaced within it. Small faces of children that cried blood with wide open mouths in pain and wide opened eyes of torment. She heard countless of screams and cries from children of both genders and various ages. Each and every one of them felt like a glass shard that cut through her body.

She squirmed over it and tried to get away from the crimson red floor as it began to turn into hands that tried to pull her under along with cries from helpless kids below her. The panic, the retribution, the eternal screams of children that forced her to take action as her body moved were nothing like she experienced before. She couldn’t think in all this chaos and simply decided to kill anything that tried to kill them, in order to escape this crimson nightmare.

She needed to get out.

She needed to escape.

She needed… to kill, rend, devour her enemies.

It was the only way to survive.

-

The soldiers looked at the barricaded door with extreme suspense. The walls cracked behind it as something slammed into them with violent force and began to move over to the door. The lancers shivered a little bit from the fright as some of them could feel that something horrible awaited them on the other side. 

Their commander bellowed a bolstering tone to enforce their moral. "Ready! We can´t fail now! For the Sagawa line!"

It sounded like something began to ram into the door and pushed them a little bit inwards from the force.

The soldiers remained on their posts and the pushes against the door continued in a fury. Wood creaked and the hinges nearly got torn out from the wall as the force behind the door increased.

It stopped.

Another minute passed by in intense silence as the soldiers didn’t move or even blink from the nervous expectation. One of them remarked with a lighter tone to the others.

"It gave up."

Some of the soldiers began to laugh in order to scatter their fear and the intense mood. Others began to join in as they began to lower their weapons in supreme confidence. Their enemy had been scared off by the supreme forces of Sagawa´s personal guard. That was the only explanation they had and enjoyed to the fullest.

One raised his voice in a victorious cheer, "Long live Sagawa!"

The cheers died abruptly as the double doors erupted inwards towards them. Something appeared in the opening and made the soldiers back away in true horror.

“Here’s Saku!”

The bloodstained little girl was surrounded by floating blue fires with a distinctive tail to them and the moving bodies of their slain comrades. Said bodies forced their way through the door, breaking it down and cutting down the living with their weapons.

Sakuya looked down on all the soldiers with her glowing red eyes now far more annoyed than angry or crazed.

The room was filled with those dark shadows and they all were merged with the weapons they held. She could hear the cries and the inhuman chatter from them as they shrieked and looked at her.

They looked desperate and wild, and Sakuya acted on what she believed to be pure survival instinct as she shrieked even louder then these shadows did to scare them off.

The shadows didn’t back off and she immediately began to prepare to fight like there was no tomorrow. She needed to escape the nightmarish images around her, the blood red light that made everything melt and pulsate as she looked at it.

The soldiers closest to the girl covered their ears as her shriek echoed in their helmets and some lancers dropped their spears as they could feel their teeth shake in their mouths. The commander held one of his ears as he tried to make his voice heard over the monstrous shriek.

"Fools! Don´t drop your guard!"

Nobody heard it as Sakuya rushed forward and snatched two people at once with two giant clawed hands that erupted from the stones around them. They were lifted in the air and the stone hands clipped them in half like their armors were made out of glass. Blood came out from their mouths and they threw the bodies away so the halves landed back on the others who collapsed and screamed in panic over the shower of blood. 

Tobirama was cutting down the people to the sides of her and forced the soldiers to become cornered as he moved on to each one far faster than they thought possible.

Sakuya impaled three soldiers brought their chest with ice spikes on and covering her hands then held them up above her head like meat pieces over a fire. The soldiers screamed and began to shoot another valley of arrows at her as their commanders ordered them to. Sakuya wrapped the bodies of the dead around her, the stone clawed hands raised to cover her face and torso with the dead soldiers still stuck to it

Some of the arrows hit some type of barrier due to the seal or symbol that appeared in the air where it hit while the others simply hit their dead comrades instead. This didn’t stop her in the slightest as she continued the massacre while she kept her new shield around her. One guard was caught from below and got sliced of vertically in half from a blade of wind while another one got cut straight through diagonally from his left shoulders. Spears broke, bows reloaded and blood squirted widely as the chaos ensured by her relentless fighting.

Swords tried to chop up her legs by the sides but instead she kicked them outwards like they were made of cloth and tripped them over. Anything that got into her path was bound to die within seconds.

Blood splattered over the girl's body and the soldiers began to panic even further as they couldn’t even get close enough to use their own weapons on her. The child burned, shocked, crushed, drowned, sliced, and impaled anything she could rest her eyes on that was labeled an enemy and literally had blood dripping from her body as she moved forward to slay the rest. One of the commanders got her claws forced down his throat and the head exploded from within shortly afterwards. The archers managed to get one arrow through her meat shield and into her soft body. Sakuya barely noticed it as her current state of constant panic kept her from the sensation of pain.

The arrow fell out of her body and the wound was healed before their eyes.

She shrieked again and swung around on the spot more violently as she shoved the soldiers down and was stabbed by a couple of lancers from the side. She looked at them and used the stone hand to crush their spines into splinters by sheer force alone. The soldiers screamed in pain and slumped down along the walls they hit. One of the soldiers managed to get close enough to stab her leg. She looked down at him and simply swiped thrust her palm out at him, sending out a gust of wind that sliced him to pieces.

Necks splintered, armors broke and swords were thrown out of their hands as she rampaged in the hall.

It was a massacre beyond anything they ever knew and the soldiers decided to fight as long as they could, only to retreat when they got the order to do so.

What then followed could only be described as something just as horrific as the nightmare the girl went through in that moment.

-

The shrieks made Sagawa realize that it hadn’t been a dream as she thought. She quickly changed into a night cloak in crimson red color and a pair of shoes as someone knocked on the door to her room.

"Who is it?"

"It´s your humble medic ninja, Milady."

She waited to open as it could be a trick that her rivals tried to assassinate her with. She instead moved over to a small table and picked up a hand held mirror with a sharp edge as handle and took a moment to check her reflection.

"What´s the secret word?"

"Milady is perfect."

She felt a little more secure as she tied her clothes tight and issued the next order. After that she used her own personal key to unlock the door of course.

"Come in."

A woman entered the room in a green robe with mystical symbols all over it. She had dark rings beneath her eyes and a dull look of concern behind them.

This one was just one of Sagawa personal group of medic ninjas and healers, a group with the sole purpose to keep her beauty preserved for all eternity.

The medic nin reported with great worry as Sagawa focused on her own reflection in a even larger mirror to track down any trace of old age.

"Milady, we´re under attack."

"I have soldiers to solve that problem."

"But Milady, what happens if the soldiers fail and the intruder comes here?"

"Won´t happen. I will simply open the doors to Asaka´s area and let them go there instead. Do you see anything odd on my skin?"

The medic nin knew too well what Sagawa meant and stated in an respectful tone, "Milady, I can´t see any of those discolored areas on you. Didn't you have your bath earlier today?"

"Yes, but I can never be sure that it cured it."

Another sigh from the medic ninja as Sagawa´s search for eternal youth didn’t know any limits, even if she had a reason for her concerns.

Three decades ago, Sagawa had begun to experience odd symptoms that appeared as red marks and wrinkles over her skin, similar to the injuries one would have if they touched a hot pot and didn't cool down the injury in snow. Blisters and necrosis of every area that got exposed by the sunlight itched, swelled and spread further over her body unless she stayed in the dark. This appeared every time the sun managed to breach the sky and land on her body hence why she never appeared outside the safety of her home during daytime. A horrible disease that forced her to hide and was unable to have a family of her own due to how horrendous she looked by sunlight exposure. No doctor or medic ninja on the entire continent seemed to know how to cure it and she had begun to try more desperate measures to keep it back. Blood had been her salvation and managed to restore her to her youthful appearance once the symptoms began to show again. She couldn’t go out and enjoy the light like the common people did but she didn’t lament that fact since she was one of the Sagawa bloodline. She had enough gold and treasure to make herself happy and youthful in her isolation.

She didn't want to look old and she didn't wanted to die. That's why she didn't care about the side effects even if she had some abdominal pain once in awhile along a much weaker and frail body that couldn't take much punishment before it broke down entirely.

Another look back at the medic nin and a snobbish question came up. "Why did you come here again?"

"I came here, Milady, to tell you that this is getting too dangerous."

"Excuse me?"

"You might want to have the fountain of youth in your hand, but we aren’t paid enough to be used as your sacrifices. We beg you to consider retreating back to the summer residence in your territory. For your own sake of course."

Sagawa considered it for a short while before she turned to her medic nin.

"Go and tell my soldiers that they shall open the door to Asaka´s areas and gather in a junction there."

"What for?"

'They will serve as distraction while I pack my things. Pack your supplies and prepare to depart within two hours."

"But the intruder..."

"Those soldiers will be excellent bait while we escape through the main entrance right behind its back. I can´t afford to have my beauty die. I refuse to let it happen."

"Understood, Milady."

The medic nin bowed down and then left in a hurry to give out the orders. Sagawa looked into the mirror again and remarked with a smile before she ordered her servants to pack for her.

"I´m so beautiful. So beautiful. Just as it´s supposed to be."

-

The shriek echoed into the dark room of Akagi's private quarters where something newly created slept in silence. It was enough to bring its conscious back in pieces and its heavy breathing sounded through the room as it tried to wake up.

The body felt so numb, yet so powerful.

Another scream disturbed the sleep, a sleep that lasted seemingly forever since the burning and intense pain from when the Temple maiden poured something down his throat that made his body burn as hell fire itself had been pushed into the veins.

Stars appeared in this darkness. Hundreds of stars and one of them began to kill the others.

My servants! Who's killing my servants?

The thoughts were scattered and irregular as everything came back to him and the man in the dark opened one of his eyes. 

He thought a single thing, They will pay for it tenfold.

One heavy sting of pain went through his head as he rose up from the bed with heavy steps and turned toward the door with thoughts that struggled to take shape.

-

One of Sagawa's commanders received their new orders from one of the messengers and made himself as loud as he could.

"All units! Fall back to Asaka´s doors! Cover the retreat with the archers and build a shield formation! Leave the wounded and don´t look back! Retreat!"

The soldiers immediately left by the west hallways in delight and panic as it had been a simple one-sided massacre of their ranks. Their weapons had proven useless against the untamed fury unhinged children could possess. They were at a huge disadvantage against something like that. Archers stayed ready with their bows in case the children would commence a hunt after them but they had other things to do at the very moment. 

One hundred sixty-five dead soldiers, piled up and covering the floor like a thick carpet of torn iron and wretched bodies. A third of them had large gaping holes the size of a melon through their chests and others were cut in every possible angle and half. Vertically, horizontally, diagonally, clipped by the knees, by the shoulders, decapitations and some from the groin and up to their necks. Nobody that had been in vicinity of her had been spared and the hall had got a whole new decorative pattern of bloodstains, similar to someone who had thrown man-sized tomatoes all over the room and even the ceiling. Soldiers had even been piled up in small hills as they died like flies by her doing.

All done this had been done in ten minutes. The first hundred had died within seven minutes from the point she entered the hall.

A volley of arrows caught her attention as they crashed against the stone barriers around Tobirama and herself, falling to the ground harmlessly.

Sakuya stared down at the archers in the wide open entrance.

Their eyes contained such uncertain fear over that they still stood in the room as their commander ordered them to. They shivered due to the evil stare the girl now gave them. 

One of the archers asked out loud, "So what do we do now commander?"

No answer came and the archers turned their heads around in slight confusion.

"Commander?"

Only to see him run off in the far distance as fast as his legs would allow him to. The archers stood there for a short moment in utter disbelief before another distorted scream froze the blood in their veins.

They quickly turned around and saw the girl head straight for them as she crushed the blanket of soldiers. The archers immediately began to run in the opposite direction but the massive stone claws closed in and clipped them like a knife through paper. 

The archers raised their bows in a futile attempt to kill her but she immediately leaped at them in a shriek. The archers couldn’t react as fast as her when she reached them and killed them with three fast kicks from the side. One in the head, the second crushed one´s ribcage and the third broke the spine on the last. They gasped in pain as life left them just as easy as a candle blown out.

The red world hadn't stopped. The cries and screams hadn't stopped. She needed to make it stop no matter what. She needed to escape. She moved entirely according to her own survival instinct, instinctive abilities usage and emotions as she created several shadow clones to hunt down the escaping foes.

Despite the horrors around her, only herself, the corpses and Tobirama looked the same to her now. He was normal, a bit shocked at the display and the emotional outburst of hers, but human. Just like she was.

"They were trying to lead us away from the area. Clearly, Sagawa is still here and about to attempt an escape," Sakuya told Tobirama as he approached her.

Despite the insanity she was feeling and seeing, her voice was steady and calm.

She had managed to keep much of her sanity intact where it mattered. 

Sakuya looked over her friend's form, scanning his emotions and physical cues and breathed a sigh of relief at seeing that he didn't think of her in a bad light. He was concerned, but it was more over her blood covered self and the torn areas of her clothing than her lapse of control.

"I'm sorry that you had to see me like that. Something sent me into a frenzy, and it's still there."  
She smiled softly at him, the bright white teeth contrasted greatly against the blood stained flesh of her face.

"I understand why you would react like that. This is your first true experience on the battlefield, and to see such a sight when you can sense things so more intense than most others can." Tobirama petted her hair, his less stained hand becoming bloody due to the life blood dripping from her matted hair and body.

He looked back at the shambling corpses in wonder. "What are they?"

"I'll tell you what they aren't. Edo Tensei."

"What kind of twisted jutsu is that?"

Sakuya raised an eyebrow in mockery. "Exactly what an Impure World Ressurection sounds like I figure?" She shrugged and observed the soldiers bodies. 

In the distance, beyond the body, she had the feeling their souls had moved on already. She was just manipulating their empty bodies, shells with no substance or purposes aside from cannon fodder, shields or a blunt weapon to use against these forces. Organs trailed behind those still intact enough to move, while limbs wrapped around their bodies.

No awareness or personality remained within them and their only purpose was to destroy the enemy before their bodies gave out.

"I always wanted an army of my own. Just never considered reanimating one before," she said lightly.

"It would be beneficial to use another person's army against them," Tobirama admitted. There was a contemplative look in his eyes, and she figured this was where he would get an idea for Edo Tensei in this timeline. Intrigued light red eyes met curious dark red ones as he said, "Sometimes I wonder about what madness and ingenuity goes in your mind."

"I blame my surroundings and those I get to know."

-

One such person was having the time if his life.

Madara hadn't fought this seriously since his rebirth into this timeline. No matter where he looked, only the inhuman eyes of the corrupted beings met his own cruel and ruthless stare. The grunts, the shrieks and the strategy these creatures displayed were far different than what he expected. Instead of one on one, these ones went at the two in groups of ten and used both close and ranged combat in their attempts to triumph over him. Reinforcements in form of more corrupted beings arrived to the other group and replenished the numbers of those which fallen. There were hundreds of them and all trained to deal with warriors and ninja with strategies that based on both number and battle formations.

It was a true battlefield and Madara enjoyed every second of it with a psychotic smile on his face.

Another corrupted being lost its head as Madara cut through its neck in a simple horizontal cut off a blade. The body slumped down and three more corrupted beings went at him in its place with arms raised to slash. Another quick swing from him that dismembered two of them while decapitating a third with ease. They proved to be more of a challenge than the usual humans, much to his delight as he hadn't fought this much for a good while now. The corrupted beings teamed up from all directions as they tried to ambush him in a circle with maws wide open and a crazed stare from their inhuman eyes.

Madara laughed manically in ecstasy as the shrieks from them died out and their insides spread around him.

He had already butchered one hundred corrupted beings like it had been a dance. The stream of enemy reinforcements seemed endless and it was enjoyable to let off a little steam. 

Suddenly, a new aura made itself known at the far end of the hall, something so strong that it even got every single one of the remaining fifty corrupted beings in the room to look in its direction. They shrieked in a fear that mixed with a murmur with all the others and immediately ran off into the connected hallways. Madara looked around in confusion as he threatened the corrupted beings with his sword and sounded even disappointed.

"Come back here! Things were just getting interesting! Get back here you spineless cowards!"

None of the corrupted beings stopped and they evacuated the hall within minutes as they left their dead to rot. Madara lowered his sword entirely then.

"That was unexpected." Madara said to himself in a purely disappointed tone and kicked a decapitated head over the ground.

Seeing no other option, he finally paid attention to the new arrival.

By the far end of the hall and a set of double stairs that lead up five meters to the next floor, decorated with an elegant railing with orange tapestry over them, a single man in his late thirties with bandages all over his body with an elegant robe over them stood at the top of them with a dizzy look in his face. Even from the distance Madara stood from him, the Uchiha could see that everything wasn’t right with his head. The eyes wandered in an irregular pattern as to keep track of the thoughts in his mind and he twitched with his fingers.

Madara didn’t say anything as he looked up with expectation and alert over the new aura that radiated much more power than the average corrupted beings. 

  
The man looked out over the hall and put his right foot one the railing as Madara inhaled deeply. He took a pause, eyes went wide open in a mad stare and then he shouted at the top of his lungs, "SLAUGHTER ALL WHO OPPOSE!"

He pushed off with his foot and the aura increased in intensity as the railing broke into tiny projectiles aimed at the young boy.

Madara used the broadside of his sword to block the attack before shredding while the pieces as it neared him. The musical metallic sound made the oddity jerk with his head to the right and he finally noticed the young lad.

"What? Assassins! Can it be!?" His speech lacked coordination and he shouted the words in emotional outburst that lacked something. He continued as he jerked his head the other way and sounded delighted by the sight. "Oh, what magnificent luck! What unfortunate occurrence! What joy!"

Madara looked at him idly, the Sharingan taking in the minute details of the madman before him. "I take it you are Kimura?"

Kimura opened his mouth wide in shock and dislike as he held his arms out and twitched with his fingers in half clenched fists. He gasped by surprise and his tone turned into both delight and a humble request, "Oh! Oh! OH! OH! Uchiha, I plead you! Please! Please! Please!..." His expression suddenly dropped the surprise and turned into an menacing and cruel one as his voice turned darker. He walked over to the edge and balanced on it with playfulness. "…can you humbly drop dead?"

He plummeted off the edge and threw off his aristocratic robe in midair as a dark tendril shoot out from behind his abdomen and towards them him. Madara dodged it with ease and the dark tendril created an impact crater where it landed. They

He went at it to cut it off but it retracted before they got the chance. Kimura landed on his feet and the bandages began to pulsate from the flesh that now began to change.  
Kimura didn’t move a muscle as he stood straight up with his hands along his sides. The voice contained madness and all traces of his former self slowly began to wither and die as the corrupted and foreign chakra surged through him.

"I can see clearly now. All hail the one who stands above man. I will hear your command and kill anyone who threatens your minions!"

His voice grew in size and new shapes burst through the bandages as his legs and muscles broke and tore to create new forms. Madara kept his gaze on Kimura and slowly raised his stares as he grew and his speech altered and changed.

"Yes! And therefore…"

What now stood at a distance from them could only be described as a huge horned starfish-like creature that covered the entire wall at the end of the hall. It had eleven arms and a straight line of dozens of huge circular eyes on each arm, all with functional eyelids and slit pupils. The end of these arms had a sharp fingernail, almost humanoid, shield at the end. The center of this creature was composed of a huge circular maw with pointy fangs in the crater it composed. It also had a ring of dark horns around this maw as protection and the body had a dark blue color to it.

The creature was twenty meters in diameter and each arm reached out fifteen meters along the walls towards the duo. It breathed through the massive maw and shouted at the top of its lungs again in complete loyal madness.

  
"…ALL HAIL THE GREAT ONE!"

"How interesting," Madara stated. He showed a psychotic smirk in pure excitement as he remarked in battle-eager enthusiasm. "I wonder if it would regenerate a limb if I rip one off?"

Kimura bellowed then attacked.

-

The main hall of the fortress contained several huge pillars in two rows and elegant armors were lined up along the walls. This hallway reached twenty meters up to the ceiling and fifteen meters at the sides. At the far end of it were the huge spiral stairs that lead to every floor in the fortress and the nine doors that provided visitors entrance to the Fellowship´s respective areas. The opposite end headed to the main exit.

  
A door opened from the east wing, Sagawa´s area.

One single servant looked outside and then retreated back in as it opened the doors to their full range. A small procession exited it dressed in robes that completely covered them up, all in ceremonial robes and with their faces hidden in the shadows. The one in the middle stood out as it wore a red robe with a bloodline weapon shield on its front. A diagonal dagger with a talon around its handle... Sagawa´s family weapon.

Sagawa and her personal group of healers and medic nins along with a small group of ten guards for protection were attempting to flee.

The medic nins wore a number of satchels that contained their ingredients and potions that Sagawa needed for her problem. Sagawa herself kept a mirror hidden in her sleeves as she had to cover her face completely to block out the light outside.

A smug grin appeared beneath her hood as her plan had worked perfectly.

From the few reports the intruders that rampaged in her area had taken the bait. Her loyal guard force got all wiped out as they expected to be reinforced once they opened the doors to Asaka´s area, but Sagawa had no plans to do so as she left them for dead.

The messengers had also reported that they heard infernal laughter from both Asaka's and Kimura's areas and that had been the signal to Sagawa to put her plan in motion.

She chuckled to herself in clever arrogance as they walked towards the exit.

_I better lock the main entrance behind me. Let the others be butchered by the intruders for all what I care. I have my beauty to preserve._

The hallway seemed eerily empty and abandoned for some reason. She didn’t care about the details as she continued to scheme.

Three weeks in my summer residence. Let things ride out and then return to see if anyone survived. If any of them did, then I just have to kill them personally.

She looked down at her arm and counted the number of children she had to bring to her baths the next month.

_Twenty. That should do for this month. I can´t exactly get the ones I earlier picked up, but that doesn't matter. There´s orphans everywhere. They are like vermin, always present._

The guards in front of the group stopped and Sagawa looked up as the entire escort stopped in their tracks.

"What is this disturbance?"

Her eyes froze as she could see the reason from the darkness in her hood.

The hallway was abandoned, completely deserted which should be impossible since a guard force was always deployed to guard it. But that wasn’t what brought her to a halt.

Two blood covered children standing in her way did.

_What the…?!_

The children were standing before them with similar grins of excitement on their young faces. Both of their eyes seemed to burn with some time of red hue and their near identical snow white hair was dyed crimson.

  
On closer examination, they were the two chakra using children that Miyake's doll brought to her with the promise it would enhance her beauty.

Sagawa's hidden face showed startled confusion as she spoke up in slight fright, "You two?! Where are the guards!?"

The girl giggled sweetly and it was disturbing to hear in combination with her blood stained appearance.

"Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust," she singsonged in a haunting way as she pointed at a corner with one hand.

The guards in Sagawa´s group looked up and gasped in terror as they began to back away. Sagawa followed their stares and held back her own gasp of fright.

All of the guards in the neutral zone were rapidly burned up by blue flames so hot it reduced them to piles of ash, armor and all.

Sagawa looked back down just in time to see her own private guards slump down as the hellish children cut them down with ease. The girl slashed through their skin and armor with swords and wind that moved through them with ease like it was cutting hot butter. The boy used a katana to reach into the narrow gaps of their armors and hit their weak points that way.

The medic nins and her most loyal servants were offered a choice to work for the girl to try and fix the damage they have wrought along with being paid and being protected and alive or meeting the same fate as the guards. Not a single one turned down the deal and they kneeled and bowed down to the girl as if she were their God.

Sagawa staggered backward in disbelief for this betrayal.

The girl turned to look at her with a dark grin.

Sagawa immediately realized the implications and growled in arrogant anger over it.

"No, I can´t have been outsmarted."

"I would say that we're sorry to disappoint you, but that would be lying," the boy said bluntly.

Sagawa changed the grip of her hidden hand held mirror so the sharp edge pointed forward instead, an improvised dagger in her taste and a readiness to use it. All it took was for her assailant to get a little closer. She nonchalantly pulled down her hood and revealed her face to the intruder in an attempt to catch her off guard.

"Who do you think you are!? Or for that matter, do you have ANY idea of who I am!"

The girl, evidently the leader of the two, spoke up with a calm and cruelly amused voice, "Akahana Sagawa. Forty-six years old and born from the late Toshiro Sagawa. Murderess of thousands of children during the last thirty years. You suffer from a rare skin disorder that disfigures and covers it in painful blisters with accelerated decay when exposed to sunlight. Most likely a result from generational incest within the bloodline. The only temporary cure is monthly blood transfusions that you chose to take as bloodbaths from mentioned children. The greatest and most despicable civilian serial killer in recent history. If it ever came out to the public... No family due to shame over your degenerate disease."

As the intruder rambled out information Sagawa became more and more displeased and pale from the amount of knowledge that now leaked out. She tried to move closer in a discrete manner as she prepared to strike.

"So you do know who I am then. Then let me ask, what do you think about me?"

"You are a human." The creepy girl said so serenely it annoyed her.

Sagawa laughed out in mockery over the last words and sounded even more arrogant than usual.

"Human?! That's so ridiculous! I'm a part of the Fellowship. I'm the ruler over half of my territory. I'm the most beautiful person alive and also the one who stands above any other in terms of power and riches. You have no right to call me such a lowly thing as a mere human, you hellish fiend. I know how the world works and as long as you're beautiful then everyone will forgive you for your actions. Killed children you say? I did the society a favor by removing those damned parasites from the streets. They're not strong enough to work or be of any other use. Only demanding food and shelter for nothing in return. Mankind breeds like rabbits so there will always be orphans and unwanted children that are left to die. What's wrong with finding some use for them? What´s wrong with having them serve me and preserve my beauty forever? You can´t deny me my right to remain beautiful!"

The intruder had listened the whole time as Sagawa moved close enough to stab her in the neck with the handle. All that it would take was one single step forward.

The intruder spoke with a calm tone as Sagawa moved past her and prepared to stab her from behind. The pointy end of the handle rose in the air with a smug look on Sagawa´s face as she prepared to kill. "I have the cure that will permanently undo your condition."

That sentence froze Sagawa immediately as it sounded too amazing to believe.

"What?"

The intruder didn’t turn around and continued to talk away in a constant calm.

"Didn’t you know it´s curable? Then allow me to solve it before you leave."

Sagawa was caught completely off guard and her obsession took control immediately as she lowered her mirror and demanded in her aristocratic tone, "What are you waiting for?! Give it to me! Give it to me immediately! Stop waste time and make me beautiful forever!"

"I have heard your wishes and desires and shall grant it," the creepy girl said with a strange formality.

The intruder quickly turned around in a slicing motion and stabbed Lady Sagawa in the chest with her hands that had transformed into claws for one moment.

Blood squirted from the deep diagonal cut over her chest and from the wound, and the skin rapidly started to decompose where the sickly green chakra touched it. The lifeblood of the murderess came out her mouth and an completely shocked expression fell over her visage. She gasped for air as she fell back and down on the floor back first. Her hand held mirror crashed into the floor and the surface received a web of cracks in it.

"What?"

She lay there and grasped for air as the intruder now stood in front of her and looked down with glowing eyes. It wiped a dagger clean of her blood and Sagawa tried to speak with a punctured lung.

"You said…"

"I didn't lie." The girl said serenely. "This was one way to cure the condition permanently after all. The other would take too long and you are far better off dead than my minion."

"But-"

"But now at least, no more children will fall victims to your madness."

Sagawa looked up at the ceiling and asked in a wheeze. "What are you?"

The girl shrugged. "It wouldn’t hurt to tell you I guess, since your soul will soon fade into nothing."

The girl reverted her arm back to a pale skinned human arm and with that one in front of her body while the there one was behind her, bowed down a little in a mocking gesture of politeness.

"I am Kouzai, aspiring God-Emperor. Should your guards and all the other lost souls that finally passed over ask about who sent you to your torturous fate, then tell them it was the future ruler of all things. And apologize to those on the other side on my behalf for the inconvenience."

Sagawa wheezed as her blood pumped out from her body and her chest bathed in it. She instead reached out to her mirror with futile attempts and wheezy breaths. 

Sakuya used her foot to shove it to Sagawa who picked it up with all of her remaining strength. She managed to hold it close to her face and saw into it and past the four cracks that went halfway to the middle from a common point to the left.

Her face was pale from the blood loss, her eyes dim and she had blood from her mouth that ran down along the sides. A weak smile appeared in her face as she used willpower to mutter something, "I´m beautiful. So beautiful. As it´s supposed to-"

Her words failed her as the last light in her eyes died out and the mirror landed with a small thump on her bleeding chest. Her eyes remained half open and the mouth stopped to pour blood out of it. She lay there, bathing in her own blood with a delusional smile on her lips, marking the end of Sagawa´s bloodline.

Sakuya looked down at one of the most monstrous civilian humans in history and simply left her there as she headed towards the main stairwell.

 _The child murderer is done for. Let's see who's next. I suppose we should hunt down this Miyake bastard to finish off that area. Madara is having fun with some type of creature that is unstable. Gavin is outside watching the chaos like the bastard he is. That leaves-,_ Sakuya thought.

  
"Saku-sama?"

  
Sakuya stopped mid-step at hearing the reverential title and turned her head to face the speaker. It was one of her new medic nins. "What is it?"

  
The medic nin shifted a little and looked at her respectfully. "What are your orders?"

  
Sakuya nodded her head before facing forward. "Care for the surviving children, go through the Sagawa area for information, and write down everything you all know about the plants, animals, materials and the like of this world. I also want you to write an very in-depth explanation of every single known crime that these families did since their foundation to this moment so I can tell the world about it. After that you will tend to the masses in the city and beyond while teaching me everything you know. Once things are settled, I will pay you and set something up for you all."

The medic nins bowed, thankful to serve someone of better intentions and left as ordered.

Tobirama looked at her with a raised eyebrow once they were alone.

"What?" Sakuya demanded after a minute of his staring.

Tobirama narrowed his eyes in thought."You were quite charitable all of a sudden. Why?"

Sakuya shrugged. "Their knowledge would better serve the world with them alive. There is always a need for more medics.”

_Besides, I can have them mass produce drugs, plants and other things if I find other types of drugs and the like here. There is always a place for that._

Naturally, Sakuya kept that thought to herself. 

Tobirama nodded his head, seemingly accepting her words at face value. "How did you know that information about her though?"

Sakuya sighed, seeing no other way than be blunt. "The whispers in this red haze I was affected with told me many things. Secrets, rough body counts, plans, scheme's and so on. The murdered have finally been able to pass on to the next world in peace now that some of their murderers have been taken care of. Sagawa, the other aristocrats and their families along with all the guards will cease to be at all upon death."

-

The Bloodstained queen was removed from the political map.

-

Sakuya started to walk in the direction of where she felt several sickening chakra signatures but stopped when the sounds of her companion's footsteps weren't heard. She turned around completely, tilted her head in a show of confusion and looked at the boy.

Tobirama was staring intensely at the corpse of the delusional woman. He seemed to be wrestling with something, and she decided to wait for him to bring up whatever was on his mind in his own time.

After a few minutes, he stepped over the corpse and walked toward her. Tobirama stopped when he was directly in front of her and just stared. She couldn't read him and that bothered her.

"What are you planning?"

Her mind went into overdrive to try and decode what he meant before realizing he was likely referencing what she said to the dying woman as a taunt.

"World domination," she teased. Tobirama didn't seem to find that as a joke so she expanded on that. Her hands ran nervously through her hair, a stim she used to calm and center herself, and after a moment she told him. "I want to save as many people as I can. Unfortunately, this means I have to end the existence any and all threats to them and anything linking to said target."

Sakuya pointed at the corpse of Sagawa and sneered. "I plan on taking over society as civilians know it before reorganizing them alongside the ninja forces and clans."

"You want to change this world?" Tobirama inquired. Amusement danced in his eyes, and he was likely comparing that to Hashirama's dreams of children not killing each other and some tentative peace.

Her blood boiled in her veins at Tobirama mocking her goal.

"Look around you! Only a few handfuls of families over a span of five hundred years had a total estimated death count in the hundreds of thousands, if not into the low millions! And they were fucking civilians without a single trace of usable chakra, Tobirama!" Sakuya yelled as her hands swung about the bloodied central chamber to prove her point. "Ninja have death tolls in the hundreds of millions over senseless battles between lineages or traditions or pointless and forgotten reasons! We just keep on fighting and killing each other because that is all he know and are taught to accept. This endless hatred won't end naturally until everyone and everything on this planet is dead and-"

Her vision became blurry as tears formed and ran down her cheeks. A pout formed at her second uncontrolled display of emotion and she started to look away when Tobirama's question forced her to look at him.  
"And?"

"I don't want to lose my loved ones. I don't want to lose you, Tobirama." The words felt weird to say, and it was too heavy and unnatural. The feeling that something had changed settled down on her mind.  
  
When Tobirama's hand came down on her head, Sakuya stiffened in shock before relaxing at the awkward pats.

  
"You won't lose me," Tobirama promised.

  
She would have taken that seriously if she didn't know his fate. That and he was an annoying asshole.

  
The head pats turned into stroking as Tobirama continued. "You want to take over the world," and she heard the faint laughter in his voice at saying that, "to stop the bloodshed and make a better future."

Sakuya nodded sheepishly. Her cheeks heated up in embarrassment over it being phrased that way. "I don't see people as clans, humans or corrupted beings. There is no Us vs Them for me. I only see the person and nothing it is tied to. I accept them for who they are, not what they are. That's part of why I want to make safe havens for people and that's why I have to get more power. Financial, political, physical, chakra...it doesn't matter. I have to be stronger and more resourceful than anyone else would ever become to protect them and their livelihood. I just want to help and save as many humans and corrupted beings as possible while making the world a better place for others."

"Why?"

"Other than the fact I live on this planet and don't want to see it choking to death on it's own dead?" She asked sarcastically. The girl became deadly serious, and more than a little wistful. "It's because I love humanity. I see such beauty, promise and potential in them, but many never notice that or squander it. I want to help them see there is more to this world than hate or distrust, or even fear. I know many will never forgive me for the lengths I will eventually go to ensure this happens, but as long as they are safe and happy with their lives, I will gladly take on their negative sentiments."

  
"Spare me the idealistic nonsense. I get enough from that with Hashirama."

With that dismissive reaction the tension vanished as Tobirama moved around her and took the lead in the direction to Miyake's section.

Sakuya glared at the boy before running after him. "That was really mean!" She scolded once they were beside each other again. "Here I was trying to be all serious and thought provoking and epic and you blow it off!"

  
"That woman, Akahana Sagawa was wrong you know." Tobirama said. There was a decent blush on his cheeks as he said that.

  
Sakuya put her hands behind her head and walked straight, but in a relaxed manner. "Obviously. Her views on society and humans were skewed and were terrible."

  
The blush vanished as he glanced at her dully. "Nevermind."

  
That only made her more curious on what he meant.


	8. Can't take Criticism

"Confirm that."

  
Keina looked down at one of the messengers who recently returned from scouting missions to monitor the civilian soldiers who she couldn’t sense. Fukumoto had given Keina the command over the military force in this current crisis and requested constant updates over the number of forces the others in the Fellowship had in possession. The latest messenger delivered his report between the exhausted pants from a extensive run.

  
"Sagawa has been found dead in the main hall, along the guard force assigned there."

"You´re certain that it´s Sagawa? Not a body double or imposter?"

The messenger nodded in exhaustion and was interrupted again before he could answer, this time by Fukumoto who overheard the whole thing from the other end of the room.

"Of course it´s her. She would never send out a body double in the middle of the night."

"Your Highness?"

Keina turned to Fukumoto as she continued to explain it further with a bored and apathetic tone. "Sagawa has body doubles, that much is true. But she only sends them out where people can see her in broad

daylight. No bloodline..."

Her left hand held the bloodstained white queen between the thumb and the index finger as to examine it.

"No heir…"

The chess piece broke in her hand as she squeezed around it and the fragments dropped down on the floor. 

"No future."

She turned her attention to Keina again.

"Her forces have been wiped out and any survivors will fall to the survivors of this evening. How convenient."

She put all the pieces that had been on Sagawa´s half away from the strategic map and left it abandoned. She took the time to ask something else instead.

"What about the one who took care of her?"

Keina replied after a short check with her perception.

"Your highness… The bishop is headed into Miyake’s area. I can't feel the queen at all anymore. Also, there is something going on outside the Fortress but reports are contradicting each other."

Another look down at the map and Fukumoto remarked with some satisfaction.

"Send a unit to take control over the main hall. Seal off all the doors from the outside and make sure that not even a rat can pass through without notification."

"Yes, your Highness."

She put a black tower on the map and within Amachi's territory.

"Now, tell me the whereabouts of those other intruders."

-

Kimura swiped with one of his new tentacle-like arms at them and grew displeased that he missed them both.

Madara looked up at the center of his body as he began his own attacks to defend himself.

An elongated and stretched arm fell down into the floor as Madara jumped out of the way for the impact. 

He sliced up three of the eyes on the arm in response and an angry yell of pain came from Kimura. The arm quickly retracted back in place as he had to dodge another attack as Kimura used another one of his tentacles at him.

Rocks flew from the impact as he missed once again and Madara remarked in a confident tone, "I'm certain Sakuya would be making some wisecrack about perverts and tentacles if she was here to witness this terrible fight."

The tentacle tilted and turned its other side at Madara to reveal that it was filled with darker spike-like appendages that served as anchors for him. They shook quickly and rattled in an intimidation like a cactus mixed with a rattlesnake´s tail. 

They shot out from the arm and Madara swiftly countered with the Majestic Destroyer Flame, burning the dark spikes away upon contact. The remnants of the spikes pulled back as the tentacle swung at him.

"Fool."

He cut it clean off with a single swing of his front legs wrapped in blue flames. The tentacle-arm fell down at Madara's feet and twitched like a cut off lizard tail.

A short rant from van Kimura in response to this injury bolted between the walls as his thick tentacles flailed around after them. "FOUL!"

Madara then quickly moved his head to the right as the blue tentacle missed it's target. He grabbed around it with his free hand. The tentacle jerked and tried to retreat but all in vain as he raised his sword and chopped it off with ease after infusing his weapon and arm with chakra. The two halves split apart and he dropped the part he held in like it had been a rotten fruit. 

The chopped off tentacles began to bubble and spurt out flesh as they grew out once again. The sliced up eyes from Madara's attack closed and opened as they regenerated and became functional once more.

Madara blinked before focusing on the regenerative properties. "It's not the Edo Tensei...for many reasons. Can all corrupted beings of sufficient age, power or type accomplish such a thing?"

Kimura just ranted in his delusional and irrational manner over it. "Behold my beholders! Witchcraft!"

Madara couldn't restrain his opinion over how stupid the last part sounded. "Whatever made you like this adversely affected your mind. Or you were dropped many times over the years."

Completely insulted, Kimura changed strategy as he attached his eleven arms to the walls, ceiling and floor in preparation for something.

Madara continued his observations on the entity. "His regeneration is sub-par to some I have seen." His mind went to the daring red girl who turned to the image of his niece having similar if slightly slower damage rejection. 

The circular maw in the starfish-like creature roared in his distorted ranting as to get the attention back to him.

"Oh GREAT ONE! Fire the dire! IMPALE THE HEATHENS!"

The circle of dark horns shot out like spears and towards them both like arrows from a bow. Madara punched the tentacle that attacked him from the side, all without even looking in its direction or even breaking a sweat.

Kimura tried to shoot out his horn spears again and managed to catch Madara in the circle they composed. 

"I've been called the local patron saint of collateral damage before due to this habit of mind. Mind you, the person who gave me that honorable title had just as much, if not more, of a right to it."

Madara refocused on the present and stared at Kimura´s maw with ironclad strength and talked away.

"I won´t leave a single piece of you intact once I´m done."

Kimura laughed manically over the whole thing as he mocked the apparent child.

"You? Just one sword against my might? Funny joke! Really funny joke! But you can´t swing in my cage! Too NARROW! So what do you wish to do with just your hands alone!?"

"Let me show you."

Madara grabbed around one of the spears with his right hand and used chakra to strengthen that part of his body as he slowly squeezed it. It shivered from the force and an ominous creaking began to rise from the spear as it slowly gave into it. Kimura´s eyes blinked in confusion and shock as the pressure increased and Madara broke it in half by chakra and mere muscle force.

Fragments of bone came out between his fingers as he gave Kimura a defiant look in his eyes while he retained his excited grin.

"After all, I would be such a disgrace to the one who gave me such a wonderful title, if I can´t even kill a small fry like you single-handedly."

He then punched right through two more spears like they had been dry branches and Kimura roared as to bolster his morale.

"WITCHCRAFT! WON`T HARM ME!"

“You are really starting to annoy me.”

-

Ikune opened her eyes for a short moment and looked back at the door that lead into the cell. Her perception picked up the new corrupted beings in Kimura´s area and she closed her eyes in disappointment.

"I should have known. It turned out to be like all the others we tried to give power to. Another failure."

Ikune looked back up at the ceiling as she mused in a bothered lament.

"Why is it that we can´t create our own monsters without the subject losing it's sanity?"

She focused her eyes on a small spider that crawled across the ceiling with slow steps as she sat and thought about how much of a problem this posed to her.

A deep sigh followed as she looked down at the ashes of the family and then back at the door.

"I better go and tell Joji about what we should do next, but I think I should stay here a little longer to center myself."

Ikune wavered between the options as she wanted to get rid of Kimura as soon as possible, but also needed to complete the reason she and Joji was here in the first place. The reason to why she was so upset and needed to calm down before, something so important that everything else didn’t matter as long as it got resolved. 

And she realized she had failed what the older rulers had given her as a task.

She threw a second look at the door and made up her mind.

_Joji isn’t that stupid. He will probably figure it out on his own._

  
Instead she rose up from her spot and began to collect all the drawings and put them in a pile, just to minimize the risk of fire in case one of the torches somehow fell down and ignited them.

_No reason to expose oneself for unnecessary danger._

_Yes, that's a guarantee that he would make the right decision. He's strong enough to at least handle a couple of humans on his own._

-

Another short yelp died abruptly as Kurumi´s sword cut through another wolf´s skull. The lifeless body slumped down on the ground in front of her and she took a moment to stomp down on it in despise and arrogance.

Blood covered the walls of the hallway in slit stripes and spread spots as her swordsmanship worked its way through the corrupt beings. Several of the wolves burned as some of the torches ignited their fur as they hit them by accident. The smell of rotten flesh and organs spread from the carcasses and filled the air with an unpleasant stench that made her pinch her nose in displeasure. The corrupt wolves hadn't proven to be much of a challenge to someone like her as she refused to use more than the weakest jutsu and raw strength levels to handle what she saw as inferior pieces of trash.

She wiped the blood clean from her blade as the mere thought of it defiled by foul blood made her cringe. A fast rub against one of the dead corrupt being´s fur was enough since she also didn’t want to defile her own cloths with the stains of corrupt blood. Her pride forbid her from staining the image of her superiority as she believed that a ninja that could slay her opponent without a drop of blood on their own persona was the most superior one.

Another part of her own personal belief was that that the less power she had to use to kill the pieces of trash was another sign of being more than the average commoner.

She wouldn’t do anything to make herself look bad, even when alone and wouldn’t show mercy against anyone who wounded her pride, friend and foe alike.

The dogs stopped in their assault and a light in the end of the tunnel could be seen as she slowly approached the main hall of this area. A number of voices began to echo from the opening and she could hear every single word that Chiura´s personal army said.

"Are we really going to unleash that? It´s Chiura´s private pet!"

"It´s one of those Uchiha! It has already killed thirty of his demonic hounds already. We have to unleash it!"

"It shouldn’t even be alive from the start, but it´s his trophy pet."

"She´s here!"

Kurumi kept her head high as she could see the door-opening and the shadows that moved in the light from it. She could sense something with her perception and could tell from the smell that Chiura´s soldiers established a perimeter there. Her senses also told her that something raged through the fortress on the opposite side from her position. It wasn’t any of her concern, and the two other odd auras that twinkled like stars didn’t bother her at all. She had to follow her father´s orders through, no matter how many humans she had to wound or maim to do so.

The soldiers spoke with some fear in their voices as they nearly closed the doors. "What? Seriously? All units retreat! Unleash all the dogs once it´s done and keep the main hall sealed off!"

The rustle of armed feet and weapons rushed in a hurry behind the closed doors and suddenly multiple screams filled the air.

"By the Ancestors! It´s loose! RUN!"

Several corrupt auras began to enter her imminent field of perception followed by a big one. The sound of a huge canine roar filled the hallways as metal broke along with bones on the other side. The smaller auras entered through the doors as they used their noses to push them open.  
Kurumi sighed as she swung her sword from the right as the first one pounced at her with the maw wide open. Her blade cut through in between the drooling set of teeth and the furry body, effectively separating it horizontally in half by the force. More wolves entered and she made the process short with them in single stroke battles that ended their whines abruptly and ended their pitiful lives in an instant.

She mused about how much it would have cost if each and every one had been requested hunts to the Uchiha clan, all while she slew the corrupt wolves that went at her in futile attacks.

"Let see… The common fee for a corrupt piece of trash on these levels is one thousand ryo. I have already killed thirty-nine of them, that´s quite a sum, and there´s a total of hundred of these here so ten hundred thousand ryo. Then there´s the nature of that thing in there."

Kurumi stopped for a moment to stomp down on one of the corrupt canine heads and hold it down as she killed another wolf. The hoard came through the door in packs of three and three wolves each as began to build up piles in the hallway as she killed them.

_One hundred thousand ryo… Did Father really? How much did he pay the Uchiha clan to have me here? How much would it cost to have a specific ninja come here? He must have paid them a generous sum each time he requested my presence here. Yes! That´s how I know that he cares about me._

She smiled as her blade impaled another wolf through the back and down through the one she held down by force. She pulled it out and upwards to cut another one vertically in half. The packs didn’t stop in their assaults and she had to move forward to not have a wall of flesh and fur block her path as the bodies piled up. The body-count was lost as she thought of other things then the corrupt beings in front of her.

_It´s obvious that these things never were close to anything but humans before this. Probably tools to kill that little miner´s competitors or for simple fun. Either case it´s spiteful._

Another slash and the last of the corrupt beings fell to her blade. The entire hallway rested in blood exposed flesh and fur that spread its thick and nauseous stench all across it. Only complete silence could be heard as the panicked screams from the main hall stopped with only a faint crunching sound beyond the doors.

Kurumi looked down on her own body and cringed a little bit over a small bloodstain on the top of her left boot.  
"How filthy."

She pulled of a small handkerchief from her travel pouch and put her left foot on the wall as she polished the stain away with elegant ease. She only stopped once she could confirm that she looked clean and elegant once again.

 _They can wait. I need to not have any trace of this visit on me. No one can know what I did here._

A quick turn towards the door and she headed straight at it with determination and pride. She also took a couple of moments to make sure she wouldn’t stomp on anything that had been a corrupt being. Her perception showed her something in the main hall, something worse than the corrupt beings she sliced down until this point.

She discarded any consideration to be careful since she had nothing to fear from a beast. She believed with every inch of her being that she couldn’t be defeated by these kinds of creatures.

She was Kurumi Uchiha, and she never failed.

With her hand on the door, she slowly pushed it open to witness a bloodstained sight on the other side.

Bodies ripped open and with only a few intact decorated the floor and walls. Bloody and broken armors scattered around the room with gnawed and mangled flesh torn and scattered around from a mindless frenzy.

At the other end of this hall, the reason to this massacre stood with it's back turned to her and devoured a couple of bodies in gluttony.

It was a wolf, with the average size of an elephant and with the musculature of an adult man. It lacked fur across the arms and the tail looked more like the one of a lizard as far as Kurumi could see. Roughly five meters in height and the proportions of a normal wolf. The loud chews that broke bones echoed as it went onto the next corpse. It stopped for a short moment as it smelled the air and turned around slowly in her direction.

The huge head resembled a merged form of two wolf heads and a human in the middle of it. Four eyes, the two in the outer edges in predatory yellow and the two in the center were slit as they turned to meet hers. The wolf portions of it resembled morbid sideburns with canine noses and furless at the parts where they merged with the humanoid one. The center face lacked a nose and lips to cover the square-shape teeth in his mouth. His maw went all the way across the sides and together with the wolf parts, created a single mouth. The center eyes appeared warped as they looked straight forward and at her with hostile intentions. At the side of this head, two huge wolf ears twisted and turned by the tiniest sound.

It gave her a short look before it remarked in a voice that contained three voices in one. "Well, this was a surprise."  
Kurumi didn’t answer as she used her sword to shove a body from her path. The mutated corrupted beings talked away as it used its humanoid right hand to grab and lift another body to its mouth.

"First these idiots try to order me to deal with an intruder without Master Chiura around and everything is in chaos since that royal corrupted beings decided to tear this place wide open. Since master isn’t here, then I can finally kill these pieces of guts without the risk of punishment. Then a Uchiha walks right up here without so much as by your leave. What´s your business with Chiura? Answer me! Or I…"

He shoved a guard in his mouth and chewed it while staring at her.

Kurumi raised her sword horizontally and instead demanded him to answer to her. "Commoner! I´m Kurumi Uchiha, the one sent to slay the commoner you call master with my own blade, so kneel!"

The mutated corrupted beings looked down at her and then laughed in amusement as chunks of metal and meat flew out from the right side of its maw.

"You're not a little insolent huh? Me kneel? That was the funniest thing I heard in a good while."

"You heard me." Kurumi´s tone went bitter as she bent her arms in an arc back along the body and prepared to make a leap. Her eyes remained fixated on her target. A voice of intimidation and toxic arrogance echoed through the room in a dominant command, "KNEEL!"

A small change in the air and she moved forward towards the mutated corrupted beings in a speed that took it completely off guard. It roared in unpleasant surprise as he raised the left arm to slam her down.

Within a couple of seconds, Kurumi dodged out of the way of the hand that hit the corpses below and turned them into minced meat. The blade blurred out for just a second and she now stood right behind the being with the back turned at it. The mutated corrupted beings looked down on the arm and noticed the lack of any wound or even the slightest cut over it.

It turned around with a grin and remarked with mockery. "You missed!"

Kurumi ogled to the side and remarked in a prideful tone. "I did not."

A thin red line appeared over both the elongated canine maws in the mutated corrupted beings´s face and they fell off like a piece of chopped wood. This was followed by two red lines around his legs and a six shaped cut on his chest. His legs fell off and the massive body collapsed immediately as his chest opened up from the cut and spilled out gallons of blood on the floor below. The mutated corrupted beings roared as it quickly turned around with its arms to attack her again. Another pair of corpses was smashed up and Kurumi vanished from his line of sight. He looked around in confusion before the sensation of cold armor struck him from above and looked straight into the tip of her sword with one of the side eyes.

Kurumi stood on his head and threatened to impale his head within seconds, but instead she used her most dominate and superior tone as she put out demands.

"Filthy hound! I might not be requested to slay you but that doesn’t matter. You're an abomination and shall therefore die."

"Wait…WAIT WAIT WAIT! Plea…!"

Kurumi raised her sword to deliver the blow and the mutated corrupted beings wouldn’t have enough time to counter attack.

"You have no right to speak you commoner. Only apologize…"

Two more red lines appeared along his shoulders and squirted blood as his arms were now rendered useless. Another grunt of pain from him as Kurumi also took the moment to enjoy the sensation of superiority that brought her such joy and pride, to feel the indescribable ecstasy over to have absolute control and power to judge anyone below her as inferior. She began to chuckle as she could feel the panic within the mutated corrupted beings aura.

"Please wait! I…I-I DON'T WANT TO DIE! I don´t…! How about this?! I will take you to my master! I will let you kill him. No, I can kill him for you! I will even become your slave and servant! What do you say!? Let me live and I will do anything and dedicate my life to you! I will worship the ground you walk on! Anything you desire! Just don´t kill me!"

Kurumi snorted in amused contempt over that statement and couldn’t resist but to drag it out in an arrogant way.

"My servant? Don't you dare try to make yourself worthy enough to ever be called that! By all accounts, your kin doesn’t even have the right to exist in this world! You don't have the right to have a human form! You don´t even have the right to have a name, you piece of trash! I don't get why all of you don´t just lie down and let us humans kill you. Don't you foul creatures know that your lives are forfeit the moment you exist? You and your kind are worth even less then the Senju and other humans we kill! Just look at you! A foul form that´s such a mockery to the laws of reality, a worthless piece of trash that only exists to be killed! You know what, you should consider it an honor to be killed by me! No. See it as a privilege to be killed by me, because you won´t ever see someone like me ever again."

"Inugami," the mutated corrupted being muttered as the blood puddle beneath him grew in size.

Kurumi looked down and sounded a little confused but she hid that within her pride. "Say again?"

"The name given to me at my birth. My name is Inugami and no matter what you say, monster, nothing will change that fact. I didn’t expect that I would be abandoned like this. I won´t lie, my master isn’t here anymore. He left to his winter residence at the border of the Land of Earth. You won´t find him. I won´t lie now but I have to say this… Since you don´t have a heart…" He smiled a little as he finished his speech. "…I pity you."

The utter defiance in his tone angered her as she changed her blow and instead carved up two of his eyes as punishment. Inugami simply growled and wouldn’t give her the pleasure of his screams.   
Kurumi said one more thing before she raised her blade again. "Trash! You have no right… You have no right… NO RIGHTS!"

She impaled his skull with her blade and he twitched a little as the sharp edge cut through his brain and sent him into death spasms. She pulled out her blade and stabbed him repeatedly as to let out her collected frustration on him.

"Trash! That's what you are! All corrupted beings are trash! They deserve to die for what they are! You dared to call me sinful!? HOW DARE YOU! I'm not a sinner! I'm Kurumi Uchiha! I'm not a monster! I slay monsters such as yourself and what is there to slay then!? You're just empty shells unworthy to even share the same air as me! I won't be punished! Do you know why!? Because I have already suffered enough in my life! I have repented. I am NOT like the others! I won't become an empty shell! I will rise higher and higher until I stand so high in this world that my father will say my name! I will be worshiped and awed because I'm the guardian angel of these low-life commoners! I will show you! I will KILL you all in the name of none other but myself! I don't need your pity or sympathy! I don't need anyone´s pity or help for that matter! I will show the world that I´m not a mistake!"

As she had let out her frustrations, her blade constantly shoved down into the corrupt being's skull and turned it into shreds. The aura had vanished at her first strike but she had continued as she was temporarily blinded by anger over that her victim had become so defiant in his final moments.

Kurumi stopped and stepped down from the corrupt being's body as she fought to remain calm and stagnant, but felt a little better as her training began to show some results.

After the incident with Sakuya and her loyal friends a few years ago, she had lived in complete denial over being the butt of jokes of her relatives. It had been the first time anything been able to simply knock her unconscious and beat her to the edge of death before healing her when one of the sparring sessions went too far. She knew that her Sharingan had been unable to stop her little minions even when she used far more power than usual to even defend herself. It had been unforgivable to her when she woke up and found that the one that saved her was the white haired abomination in their clan. And to make it even worse for her, Sakuya did it without a hint of shame or respect.

  
It had been such a shame to Kurumi to be saved by the one clan member who was such an utter failure in her eyes that didn't even look like any other member of the clan. To imagine that the one who was considered a walking disaster-zone had saved her nearly made her go insane. That was such an insult to Kurumi´s ego that she needed to get away from civilized areas and requested extermination and assassination missions to let out all her anger over such a blatant failure out on the poor fodder she was up against.

But the experience had made her realize that her swordsmanship and base Sharingan wasn’t enough to fight powerful opponents one-on-one. She had spent the time after that to improve and hone her skills so she could deliver faster and more lethal attacks with the minimum amount of chakra required. She had to become better since if she challenged Sakuya to a duel in the current state she had been in, it would have only lead to a draw or worse a loss on her end. Not like the other half breed had the skill to outmatch Kurumi, but because of the sole reason that she was so resilient and refused to give up as she played on the defensive.

Something that frustrated Kurumi beyond no end as defiance was a trait she disliked heavily.

But even after all those years of training, her 'Ego' sword-style had now improved to the degree that she now didn’t need a team to bring down most people or the rare corrupted beings. It made her feel even more pleased with herself as she wiped the blood of her blade on the back of the being.

_So Chiura isn’t here? Like I would believe that! corrupted beings are known to be nothing but a bunch of filthy, evil, liars. Won´t be surprised if that little runt stands under his desk in an attempt to hide._

She looked up at the stairs and immediately headed in that direction.

  
_I better make him a little shorter since he won´t need his knees anyway._


	9. Droit du Seigneur

Lord Amachi looked into a grandiose bedroom where a female figure slept peacefully beneath the silk sheets. The bed looked so warm and inviting to him at this hour but he couldn’t afford to go back to sleep just yet. He needed to make sure that the current crisis been taken care of and to make sure his family would be safe from the whole political mess he got involved in.

The man himself wore a gold plated samurai armor that had been made to withstand arrows and the average attacks a normal human ninja would be capable of. With a sword in a sheath by his left side along with a helmet tucked under his arm, he stood and watched his wife sleep in peace. He sighed as he looked down and closed the door without waking her up.

"Hopefully you won´t see this."

He turned to the two figures that stood and awaited orders obediently. Two of the beings that their allies had provided him in return for the silence of their activities in Hinoiri. One was a man in a black samurai armor and the other was the brute only known as Tohru.

He looked down at Amachi and waited for commands. 

Amachi wasn’t late with them as he ordered, "Don´t let anyone pass by this hallway until I return. Would You Kindly?"

Tohru grunted and nodded obediently as he positioned himself along the doors and kept a watchful eye to both the right and left.

Amachi spoke to the man in armor with a low yet authorized voice this time.

"Give me the report Hone. What´s the status of the intruders and the others troops?"

The other being, Hone, answered in a distorted tone behind his visor.

Hone was the leader of the band of corrupted beings over a century old that served their roles as negotiators within the Temple. He was also the one with the most humanoid form as a corrupted being and Amachi´s strategic adviser to counter the threat of Fukumoto´s bodyguard who served a similar role.

"My liege, the forces of Chiura, Gato, Sagawa, Asaka and Kudou have been completely wiped out complete with any family members they may have had. Miyake and his harem are still active as is his guard force for the moment. A single person is heading that way to clear it out. Kimura's troops were decimated to a mere handful that are being picked off by one or two others as they make their way here. Kimura himself is in the middle of combat with one of the assassins."

"And the reason for this mess?"

Hone sniffed in the air for a minute and then provided his answer.

"Something terribly powerful, more than anything I have ever felt before, has killed off nearly everyone in the mentioned areas by themself. Sagawa has personally fallen victim to this force of nature. It's heading this way as I mentioned. Fukumoto has sent troops to take the main hall but they have been cut down. I imagine the force suspected such a tactic and left something behind to make sure they couldn't do such a thing."

"And our allies?"

"They no longer bother with hiding themselves at this point. One of them is with your doujutsu sensor, or what is left of that family. The other is in a guestroom in this area, slowly moving to the main hall."

"Anything else?"

"Nothing that I haven't informed you of. What are your orders Sir?"

Amachi walked down the hallway and towards the main hall as a commander now. He sounded grim and serious as he realized the situation before him.

"Hold the doors and prepare the others of your kin. Also sent fifty of our men to re-take the main hall before Fukumoto gains control over it and check out to see what was left behind. Protect the private

quarters at all costs and above all protect my family. I won´t allow them to become victims in my politics."

"I see. I will assign a number of your men to guard this area."

"No, Tohru will be enough to keep them safe back there. I will need you and the others at the last line of defense with me once the disturbance reaches this area."

Hone nodded obediently and went ahead to prepare the defenses. Amachi entered the main hall at the top of the stairs and could see his private army prepared for war with arrows stashed to ensure a fast supply in case of emergency, tucked in their quivers and armors that shined in the chandeliers light. A faint fear trembled in the men´s eyes as they waited in anticipation.

He knew there would be no retreat, since the fortress of the Fellowship was the only home for his bloodline. The others had other options to retreat to but he wouldn’t have the same luxury as they possessed.

He had to hold the line for the sake of his family or die trying.

"All soldiers! Prepare for bat-!"

He was interrupted as one of the enforced doors in the main hall were kicked wide open by some kind of tremendous force and sent a dozen of his men flying through the air. They all turned their attention in that direction with slight panic as they shouted about a battering ram and that had Amachi worried about an actual war declaration to him. It had been from Kimura´s area and his troops consisted of bloodthirsty brutes. It would be a disaster if any of them got inside the private quarters.

Much to their shock, a five year old bloodstained girl stepped out from the door.

The girl created water in her hands like someone who could use chakra washed her body clean of the drying blood. Afterwards, she dried her clothing and body with a light wind and some smokeless flames.

A fast count as she pointed on every single one as they pulled out their swords and lances at her. Amachi couldn’t decide what to do in the short confusion and the intruder raised her voice in amusement.

"Okay, it´s somewhere around two-hundred of you and one of me. How unfair."

She crackled with her knuckles as her slaughter crazed grin turned to a pleased one now. This scared the soldiers further and they backed away a couple of steps.

"It won´t even be a warm up."

The soldiers assumed their positions as they prepared to take on their unwanted guest. Amachi looked down and issued the orders to attack her.

Hone looked down over the scene without a single word and then back at him. He looked down at her and then left without a silence as there was an errand he needed to do first.

Something far down in the dungeons.

That, and he wanted to see the strength of the force of nature herself from a safe distance.

-

Undisturbed by the relentless battles that now raged all over the fortress, Miyake´s own troops had mobilized to secure the entrances and regain control over the main hall. Most of them fought with Fukumoto's troops in lack of other opponents and left most of his area unguarded as all their effort had been directed to this.

It was child´s play for Tobirama to sneak past the soldiers and reach the most important room Miyake had, his "heart" of the fortress.

His bedroom.

The doors locked from the inside behind his throne, and were built to stand a battering ram held by a dozen men in case an invasion occurred. A place built for his own carnal desires and pleasures as he retreated from the outside world to live out his fantasies and secrets, away from the eyes of the common filth and pests of high society. Paintings and statues of women decorated the room´s interior and several yarns with sturdy thread and needles had been thrown in a corner.

Tobirama gave the sturdy doors one look before he put a hand on them and began to push with increased force. The doors began to creak and the lock finally gave in to his superior strength. The door glided up with some effort and as he stood at the door entrance, he glanced across the room.

Red silk as far as the eye could see with a huge bed with angel decorations carved in it. The size of it could hold anywhere between five and nine people at the same time. Curtains of the same color silk hanged over it as a ceiling and beneath the dark sheets, a number of lumps could be seen sleeping out of his sight. The room also had two wardrobes and a huge mirror that hanged over the bed.

A number of faint breaths echoed in the air as the lump in the middle of the bed slowly moved and rose up from the disturbance.

"Who has the nerve to-?"

Miyake stopped as he sat there half naked with the sheets as only cover. In this state, one could see how fit he really was without the clothes on. A man in his best years and thanks to nearly daily night-exercises which kept a muscular physique didn’t make him bad too look at in the eyes of women. It was another reason to why women really didn’t just turn him down as he set his eyes on them.

But then again, he would never accept no as an answer.

Miyake looked at the male figure in the entrance and was clearly amused. "I´m busy here. Come back another night to preach at me."

He waved with his hand at him and prepared to go back to bed once again. Tobirama spoke up with a menacing tone now.

"Lord Takahisa Miyake. Infamous for his so called charity in bringing women off the streets for a better life. A womanizer who uses his status, money and looks to get any woman he sets his eyes on. Also the one in charge of half of a major nation and its population."

Miyake seemed to give him his full attention now. "Do I know you trash?"

"No, but I know you. More precisely, I know about the offspring you decide to abandon once you have gotten what you want with the poor women that survive your sick and twisted fantasies."

"Oh, really?" Miyake asked in a bored manner.

"Indeed. Do you know that you´re the father to eighty-six sons and a hundred and eight daughters? All illegitimate of course and most of them perished by the hand of corrupt beings, animals and slavers."

"What is your point?"

Tobirama grabbed something from the open sleeve and spoke with the attention towards him.

"Do you know how many women you killed and made miserable just because you kicked them out? Women who had to sell their own children to slavers or abandon them because they couldn’t take care of them? Do you know how many hearts and dreams you crushed?"

"And why should I care?"

"You should because it ends tonight."

Tobirama threw something from his sleeve and a long dagger-like projectile flew through the air like an arrow towards him.

Miyake smirked at him as he pulled up the closest lump from beneath the sheets, a naked woman with her back turned at Tobirama, and used her as a shield. The dark projectile landed in her chest and stopped before it reached him. The woman gasped a little and then went limp.

He began to chuckle over it as the remark went over to Tobirama. "Women are only good in bed after all."

The white haired boy felt rage fill him at the human shield. Whether it was his own, or the residual rage from his snapped friend laying waste to others was unknown to him. "You´re despicable. Using a defenseless woman like a tool."

"Oh please, If you try to lecture me then listen to me first you trash assassin."

He kept the woman in his arms as to shield off further attacks and began to explain his own world view to Tobirama as he pulled out the sharp projectile out from the woman´s back.  
"Women only exist for the pleasure of men. They cook, they clean and best of all, shall do anything in their power to satisfy their masters in any way in bed. It's a duty they have since the beginning of time and I don't mind that order. They're just tools that make life endurable and shall behave as such. But then the dark side of the women shows up and ruins the whole image. They look at me they complain and come with requests and favors in return. They grow old and lose their appeal and they think that just because they carry an heir of mine, they can leech on my power and become nobility. It's only natural that such women have served their role and need to be replaced with nicer and younger versions to keep my satisfaction intact. It's only natural you know and the fact that they can´t handle my own methods is their fault. It's not my fault that they die when they can't satisfy me or refuse to do so. It's my right after all and one I would never give up." Miyake looked at Tobirama with a crazed grin and sadistic eyes. "You want to know something I especially like? I like to be the one who claims a girl's virginity in the heat of passion and desire. That's what I look forward to every time and every night, but I can't have illegitimate heirs all over the continent, so I had that problem solved."

The stabbed woman slowly reached up and the circular wound had vanished much to Tobirama´s annoyance. She reached up with her arms around his chest without as much as a sound from her. Miyake looked down at the sharp projectile and remarked with interest.

"It's a kunai, isn't it?. Does that mean you're a ninja? Answer me you piece of trash!"

The other lumps in his beds began to move and let out faint whispers as their hands reached up to him. He just smiled in wicked satisfaction as he nailed his eyes on Tobirama.

"Well, it doesn't matter. As I said, I needed to solve this problem and asked my new allies about a small favor in exchange for my silence. I wanted to have women, a whole harem in fact. A harem that wouldn’t complain, and wouldn’t stare and request anything from me. Women that would only exist for my pleasure and also protect me whenever I was in danger. Women that would love me without any conditions attached and be incapable of having heirs since I have too many as it is already. Women who would survive anything I did to them and never grow old or die. As a extra condition, I wanted these women to be virgins forever so I could claim it every night without the need to replace them for the same feeling."

The women in his bed slowly sat up and more of their bodies could be seen as they reached out to embrace him. They hummed and hissed as more and more were revealed of their pale skin and generous, beautiful forms. Tobirama gulped in dislike over the sight as the attention was directed at the women´s heads that now turned to face him.

Miyake showed a smug smile as he remarked in great pleasure. "Let´s just say that my allies exceeded every single one of my expectations. And I´m only grateful to them for this generous gift."

The women hissed and hummed in strained breaths as they sniffed in the air with eagerness.

Every single one of the eleven women had red hair of various lengths and had both their eyelids and mouths stitched together in a crude needlework. Their skin shined from sweat in the weak light that came in through the door opening. They were creatures that lived for the sole purpose to serve the Miyake bloodline and follow any demand he might give them. These women had been stripped of every shred of their humanity and left only with the most basic instincts that involved to urges to breed and to feed.

Creatures that would survive anything that got thrown at them, led by scent alone and incredibly persistent once they got the track on their target.

Miyake held out the projectile that Tobirama used and gave it to the feeders that eagerly touched it and held it up to their noses as to inhale its odors. Tobirama couldn’t help but feel disgusted over the inhuman treatment of them as Miyake spoke with a satisfied voice.

"Like the needlework? I'm especially proud over that part since I did that myself and they didn't even complain either."

"What are they!?"

  
"Carnal creatures of consumption. That's what my allies told me and I can't disagree after all these nights with them. They're the best women I ever had in my entire life."

Some of the abominations began to drool from the closed lips and let out strained hisses in excitement as they tried to open their mouths and savor the flavor. They all moved their hands over it by reflex and the two closest to him grabbed around the shoulders by reflexes.

Tobirama swung his arms rapidly and a dark dagger flew straight at one of the abominations which was impaled through the chest. It simply shrugged it off like a mosquito bite and the wound closed as the projectile got pushed out from within.

Miyake held the second projectile in his hand as the two feeders clung tightly to him and with the others waited obediently for his orders. He seemed amused in a superior manner and not even concerned about the situation.

"Do you still think you can kill the likes of me, you piece of trash?"

He turned his head to the abomination and now smiled viciously with narrowed and evil eyes. "Kittens? Eat him."

Tobirama stared in slight shock over to witnessing the macabre display of monstrous mutilation and malice crawling around in the room around him.

_No auras. Not a hint of chakra. What are they?_

Nine of the fiends began to crawl over the bed towards Tobirama as the red silk sheets fell off their bodies. They behaved like cats in the silent hunt for an unexpected mouse with drool from their closed lips and they went down on the floor on all fours. The first three looked up at their victim and moved their hands to the needlework that closed their mouths together in restriction.  
Tobirama stood alert and prepared more of his projectiles, grasping his ring staff in is other hand tightly, as the fiends opened their mouths in relief and let out sighs of hunger.

Their mouths revealed to be maws filled with sharp fangs and shredded lips. They kept their eyes closed and slowly stood up as they began to walk towards him. 

The fiends inhaled deeply as their inhuman grins filled Tobirama with unease.

One quick swiped with his arm and five dark projectiles flew out in a bow at the approaching pack. They all hit in the chests of their targets but the fiends simply pushed it out.

_Well, shit._

The feeders built up a defensive wall and raised their arms as to close off their master from the battle. They gasped in hunger and sniffed the air for their new potential meal and waited for the final order to attack.

Miyake clapped his hands just once and they charged onwards at Tobirama with their maws wide open.

It was at that moment that some warped hope blossomed when a decidedly wicked voice asked, "Would you like me to help you out of your little situation?"

-

Madara swiped with his hand and crushed half of the horned spears in the swing before Kimura pulled them back to save what he could. He hadn't changed his grinning expression as the bluish light pulsed around him with the depth of the abyss and his circular maw in its center. 

Kimura stated in a mocking manner over how little and defenseless the young boy looked with his mad voice. "Witchcraft! I don´t believe in superstitions or gods! So magic shouldn’t be real either! You can´t beat me with magic!"

Madara frowned in thought. _Is chakra so unheard of by civilians that it's like magic?_

The young Uchiha rapidly did some hand seals and readied himself for the next step.

 _Time for a magic show then._  
The dozens of eyes blinked in amusement and childish tones came out from the maw. "What´s THIS?! A magic trick?! OH I wonder what a red-eyed sorcerer will summon?! A rabbit? A bird? A monster in a jester suit?! OH! What excitement! What familiar have you in mind?!"

  
Madara exhaled and sent a stream of flames toward him before vanishing.

He reappeared nearby and used several genjutsu before burning and slicing the beast rapidly.

"I don't have the time to waste on a pathetic nuisance like yourself, especially since you can not satisfy my need for a thrill or keep up with me."

Madara pushed the chopped off tentacles away from him and could only see that they began to regenerate again. It would take too long to just hold off the attacks and try a simple dismemberment to defeat him. He knew that what was needed to defeat him was a single destructive attack to stress his body into a collapse, to cause so much damage that it would be unable to heal as fast.

Madara grinned as he knew what he had to do. He couldn't use anything too big, or risk harming the others and the city... But there was one fire nature move he could use.

The jutsu essentially would encase his clothes and body in flames that wouldn't harm him and allow him to control it and the intensity. It was the heating up of the air around him with chakra and intention, that their own chakra would prevent it from harming them or their clothes. Anyone who attacked the cloaked form would be damaged severely and even nearing it would hurt them. Chakra manipulation could make the flames form wings or weapons and so on, but it has hard to maintain since it require great control and above average chakra to even use the most basic forms.

His mind flashed to the female clothed in blue flames that failed to surpass the flames burning within her as she challenged friend and foe alike.

 _Sakuya does have the blue flames..._ Madara trailed off, focusing on heating up the air around him.

A savage grin grew on his lips as the flames formed around just as it did before for the girl.

_Fox Fire Rite, Eh?_

Madara manipulated the flames to form a kusarigama and he swung it at some tentacles that were heading his way. The sliced off appendages fell to the ground and the flesh sizzled and burned on the body.

The flames cauterized the wound and prevented it from regenerating.

"You think that just because you can heal then you won´t be killed? Think again..." Madara said as he began to swing faster and faster. Cuts appeared over the arms that made up the cage around him like a propeller.

The circular motion stopped and he held the kusarigama behind his back for a short moment.

A couple of seconds passed and the entire wall of arms behind him fell down on the floor like a nest of snakes. Dozens of Kimura's eyes were cut in the middle from his attacks and he had trouble focusing the words he shouted.

"USELESS! I JUST!"

The eyes flickered on his arms and he began to notice that the wounds didn’t regenerate at all. After a couple of seconds, he noticed a small healing process but it was significantly slower than before and even his madness began to falter as the injuries drew his strength.

Madara loosened up the kusarigama and now pointed at his maw.

"There was a limit to what you can recover from. How pathetic."

"ALL HAIL THE GR-!"

His shout got interrupted as Madara leapt forward and swung straight through his maw with the fiery kusarigama. Kimura gurgled and coughed blood out as the blue radiant light flickered in a spasm. The remaining horns around his maw shot out to get rid of Madara and he leapt back to the middle of the hall and waited for his next move.

Kimura gurgled and roared as the fragments of his mind began to break apart from the corrupted chakra. 

He still tried to voice his call in madness. "All HAIL the GREAT ONE!"

Kimura's body tensed up and he used the spikes on the back of his arms to shoot himself from the back wall and towards Madara, all in an attempt to crush him on the other side with his body.

Madara changed his kusarigama into a katana for the final blow. He then altered his stance and tilted his flaming katana upwards and aimed the tip of it at the center of his body with a tight grip around the handle.

Kimura came at him like a wall of flesh and he prepared for the impact.

His katana impaled the abomination through the maw and went straight through it like it was made out of butter.

Kimura grunted and to his greatest shock, got his charge stopped. "No. No! I went full force! I´m still trying! Then why can´t I move further!? How did you stop me?!"

Madara looked up at him and twisted his katana to make the wound deeper and more severe. He could sense the pulsating core deep within at the tip of her sword and sunk it right through it. The weak pulse stopped and the corrupted chakra weakened from its mad radiance at once.

Kimura began to realize in awe, He can't kill me... Right?!

Madara changed his grip on the katana and charged his chakra through his muscles as he pulled the blade down. The sword cut straight through the thick and sturdy body of muscles Kimura was composed of.

His aura flickered and the arms lost their grip on the ceiling as the injuries proved to be too severe. His fragile mind began to flicker as the corrupted chakra slowly vanished and weakened in his body.

"No!" He roared in defiance as he curled together into a ball and shot his spikes in every direction to fend Madara off. 

Madara leapt away from his reach and hit him like a iron ball with his sword. The force was enough to send him flying and into the wall right below the broken stairwell.

Most of the flames died down around the young boy.

-

Kimura curled out from his shape and panted heavily from the wounds. They couldn’t heal now after the last attack that wiped out a lung and damaged his head, the one thing he couldn’t heal.

Madara had managed to deliver a fatal blow that now took its toll along with a faulty operation. It looked like it couldn’t stand up on its own without help and dragged itself away from the young boy.

"No! I was supposed to be immortal. Where am I? What is this? Why can't I move, and where´s my soldiers? Why am I here?"

The corrupt beings body began to shrink and it used its spikes to get itself moving like on crutches. Kimura continued to flee away from Madara for unknown reasons as he headed back up the stairs to his private quarters. The voice started to sound scared and concerned about something within the star-like lump of bluish flesh.

"Miaka... Where is my wife? I need to see my sons! What just happened?"

He began to climb the broken staircase with bleeding stumps as he began to get more humanoid forms and his multiple limbs conformed to four. The eyes still covered the outer sides of his body and the circular maw covered his back with a bleeding lung visible. His voice sounded surprisingly disturbed and helpless as he looked at Madara who followed him with the eyes of an executioner.

"Leave me alone! I don´t want to play anymore! Need my wife."

"Your wife is already dead," Madara stated without emotion.

He didn't sense anyone hiding nearby, and figured the insane monster slaughtered his family without knowing it.

Kimura stopped his climb and tuned his stare at Madara as more severed organs appeared in his closing maw.

"Who sent you? Where's my wife? Where's my sons?"

Madara didn’t answer as he instead stabbed him through the back with the katana and nailed him in place. He let out a short yelp in pain as the maw began to close around it and grew a skeleton structure once again. His human skull began to take shape and it turned up at him with two black eyes in its sockets.

"Please, assassin. Don't kill my family. Please don´t kill them. They don´t deserve it. Please."

Madara looked down at the dark blue humanoid creature that was just skin and bones. The eyes on its arms and legs began to shrink and close as the corrupted chakra began to vanish from its body. Another change in him was how his skin began to dry out and look almost petrified by the contact with the air and seemed to suffer from it.

He only gazed down with a scowl.

The remnants of Kimura continued to plead in a raspy voice that lost its strength. "Just kill me, and leave them be. I beg you. Please!"

Madara grew tired of pleads and enhanced the flames surrounding the blade before twisting it and removing it from the body.

Kimura began to crack up all across his skin and his limbs stopped moving. His jaws froze in place and his voice barely made it out his mouth.

"Don´t kill th-"

Madara stabbed the katana through his head and cut his voice short immediately. The eyes slowly went paler as the chakra began to vanish from his body and his skin went paler and paler. 

Madara looked down at him and replied with a merciless tone. "You're weak and terribly sentimental for a fiend. The outcome was settled the moment you entered the room and let your wish be granted. It´s a shame really. You claim to be immortal yet you don´t even know the strength of your opponent and yourself? What can I expect of some civilian..."

Kimura's eyes faded away as his entire body dried out by the lack of blood in his veins. A single strained sigh left him before he fragmented into thousands of pieces like a broken plate. Without chakra, his body simply collapsed from the extensive strain that it was put through from his operation and the stress in the battle.

Only bone dust remained to mark his existence.

Madara ended the jutsu, the flames and weapon dying away within seconds and left not a trace of their presence.

He looked up at the door to the former aristocrat's private quarters. A thought of consideration moved behind his eyes as he jumped up to it and opened the door wide open with his normal sword sheathed behind his back.

Inside, a trail of blood and bodies met his Sharingan with the stiff and terrified eyes of servants and a woman with two small boys close to her. Everybody had been gutted violently and the stench of blood lingered over the place.

Madara looked down with half-closed eyes for a couple of seconds in silence.

The door closed slowly and he locked it after him before he went after his niece who he sensed was causing the most distress around there. Kimura´s mausoleum would remain undisturbed for the sake of innocence lost to a mad man's desires.

-

The Black king was removed from the strategic map.

-

Keina turned her head to the west and noticed the disappearance of two large auras.

_Kimura and Inugami are dead. Good riddance._

The strategy room had slowly become more and more hectic as the messengers delivered their reports. It had turned into an all-out war within the fortress as chaos spread among the soldiers who fought enemies on multiple fronts. 

In the Kimura area, his bloodthirsty troops of corrupt beings had lost their commander and assumed it to be their signal to attack anything in sight. They still struggled with the locked gates by Gato's area in vain and ran through their own quarters like trapped birds in a room. It would be only a matter of time before they turned around and headed straight to Amachi instead.

The main hall had turned into a battlefield where their troops, Amachi´s veterans and even Miyake´s soldiers struggled with sword and shield to regain complete control over this one central point. It was of utmost importance to seize it in terms of strategic advantage. If one of the Fellowship could control it then strategic invasion units could be positioned while also sealing the others in their own areas. The benefits would also involve an escape route in case things went gruesome.

Unfortunately, they were being cut down by what seemed to be copies or clones of a tiny child who was holding all of the doors and the middle. Clearly the original was intelligent enough to know how crucial that part of the building was and planned accordingly.

Fukumoto looked down over the map and had already removed pieces from Chiura´s, Kudou´s, Miyake's, Gato's and Kimura´s sides. The main hall was filled with white pawns and only Amachi had black pieces within his area that rightfully belonged to him. The hectic atmosphere that built up made the air heavier as life-and-death needed to be determined within minutes, if not seconds, to ensure that she wouldn’t lose.

Fukumoto had not changed her emotionless expression one single bit as she looked down and issued her orders with such cold precision that it unsettled Keina.

"Send reinforcements to the main hall. Send the order to open Kimura´s gate in the main hall. We will unleash his soldiers on the entrance and let them fight Amachi and Miyake´s troops."

"Wouldn’t that also mean a loss on our troops as well?"

"Human soldiers are expendable, and when it comes to these games then it´s worth sacrificing some pawns in favor for a queen. Keina, I have a job for you."

Keina turned her attention to her master and waited like a soldier in line.

"I have decided to let you go and open the gate to Kimura´s area. Unleash his Bloodthirsty troops on my enemies and then return here."

"It will be done, your Highness."

"Use that little trick you have."

"Yes."

Keina turned her back at Fukumoto who moved her hands over the map like in a strategic game of lightning chess. One could see the high amount of concentration that it took to follow up all the strategies in her head. Even if she didn’t display any emotion, Keina knew by instinct that she clearly enjoyed this little war. After all, if this small civil war continued then it might be completely possible that only one would remain alive to seize everything.

It would be difficult to accomplish since the Fellowship had been prepared for something like this for a long time now. The political tensions could be compared to lyre strings, ready to snap at any moment.

Something that right now happened because of a single corrupt beings who put the ember in a dry patch of grass to start this forest fire.

Keina headed to the main entrance to carry out her master´s orders.

By the strategic map, Fukumoto took a short look at the black king that represented Kimura. She snorted in contempt before she dropped it in the ground and crushed it with one foot.

"Send a number of lancers to repel Amachi´s forces and support these with the archers. Make sure they won´t push our forces back into our area."

-

The soldiers inside Amachi's main hall built up a defensive formation as they encircled Sakuya with shields raised and sharp lances. Behind them two lines of archers aligned themselves to fire between the rows of lances if they tried to leap over them. In front of this formation stood a number of swordsmen with shields and one handed swords to protect the lancers. The formation was so tight that not even a rat would be able to sneak through them.

Sakuya just tilted her head slightly to the left so the cracking of her neck broke the silence. After that everything settled and they had achieved their preparations as they were about to charge at her. Sakuya moved first as she immediately turned herself sideways and in between two lances as she elbowed the first soldier she encountered in the chest. The force made a crater into his armor and he was sent backwards into the lancers shields as she immediately threw down with her right hand and grabbed one of the lances. A fast pull forward from the soldier´s perspective and he lost the grip around his lance as he got pulled along with it. Sakuya threw a clenched backhand into his face and knocked him unconscious while she also broke his nose in the punch. The soldier collapsed on the ground by her feet and she swung counterclockwise with the newly acquired spear in her hand and infusing it with chakra while controlling the wind and air. The force was enough to send the twelve closest soldiers in her vicinity back as the long spear swiped them like a tree log. Weapons and shields dropped into the ground as some of the soldiers lost their grip and fell down at the floor.

The spear broke from excessive force and she looked down at the broken stump in her hand while archers aimed at her and prepared to fire. A couple of swordsmen prepared to charge at her in the same moment the archers have fired. Sakuya looked down at the floor and raised her left foot high as she stomped down on the edge of a shield.

"Fire!"

The shield flipped up in the air from her move and she caught it and turned at the archers as they fired their arrows. She assumed a low profile and hid behind the shield as the arrows bounced off and fell down at the floor. The closest swordsmen yelled as they went for the kill with their swords raised in the air while the archers prepared a second volley. 

Sakuya used the wind to drag the archers toward her, and with a single stomp on the floor implaed them with sharp pillars of rock. 

She then resumed weaving between the masses, slicing the backs of their necks, elbows and knees among other sensitive areas to cripple them before ending their lives once and for all.

The girl slaughtered her opponents in a systematic manner. There were no wasted movements, no hesitation.

The art of killing, or taking life came as naturally as breathing to her, and it was frightening to behold.  
Amachi looked down with a bitter expression as he could see how his men got decimated within minutes. The assassin moved with such speed, strength and agility that most civilians would never catch up to it no matter how much they tried, yet alone defend against it. This was the clear warning sign that their opponent weren't civilians at all and that he needed to put in Hone and his gang of corrupt beings to finish the job.

A quick turn around and he noticed the guard’s absence.

He should just be gathering the others, but how long time will this possibly take?

He turned his attention back to the main hall and knew that any orders he would provide could only buy a little time. His troops hadn’t been trained to handle an enemy that moved like a wind and defeated them by the dozens in less than a minute or two.

"Pull back the swordsmen! And encircle her with the lancers instead! Create a perimeter!" Amachi ordered, as he took the little girl as the bigger threat as insane as that sounded.

The assassin just jumped straight up to avoid it. She seemed busy with the task of killing his troops and rendered them useless. 

Amachi needed to make sure that his troops in the main hall didn’t get defeated but kept his confidence that they would handle the situation on their own.

Even if all his archers were annihilated and that limited his available tactics.

-

Tobirama looked at a very peculiar man who was dangerous. Every fiber of his being was yelling at him to run away like he did when he split up with Saku, but this time he didn’t know why. With the younger brat it was an easy call since he had snapped under the horrors and killing, but this red haired man was just leaning against a wall completely carefree.

Clad in a dark kimono, black geta and white socks, the red haired man looked up from the cards in his peachy skinned hands and down at him.

“I can take care of this. Why don’t you use your adequate speed to destroy Chiura who is heading toward Fukumoto? After Miyake and Amachi is destroyed, there should be no one else to pose a threat to your little Saku.”

The white haired boy grimaced at how it was phrased. “Why is everyone joking with that idea? I’m not gay.”

“Saku is.” Mischief shimmered in his molten gold eyes. “Well, pansexual.”

“Good for him. I’m more alarmed by that he knows what he likes at five.”

The stranger nodded his head wisely. “Saku has always been mature for ‘his’ age.”

There was an unnatural emphasis on ‘his’, and Tobirama knew the red haired man suspected him to notice that.

It was the least of his concerns right then. Really.

Tobirama sighed. “I hate this and regret every single decision that has led up to this moment in my life.”

“Suck it up, fuckercup.”

The white haired boy blinked repeatedly. “…Did you just butcher buttercup in order to insult me?”

A cough brought their attention back to the noble who was rather upset at being ignored. “This whole situation between you two is rather weird. Isn’t that right, filthy Uzumaki?”

The red haired man became unnaturally still and as he slowly lifted his head to look at the man on the bed, Tobirama was already sprinting far away from them.

“Yeah, almost as weird as what is going to happen to you if you call me that again.” The odd man said playfully.

_What is he?_

-

The door that would reveal Chiura’s office waited at the end of the hall, along with several smaller corrupt beings with canine features. Domesticated corrupt dogs, enlarged and distorted into bestial forms.

Kurumi snorted in contempt as there wouldn’t even be a need to use her sword to handle something as small as that.

The first dog jumped at her and she simply looked down at it in superior arrogance as she stomped straight down on its head and crushed it. The next couple of dogs didn’t try the same approach and went for her legs instead. Kurumi simply kicked them with chakra lacing her legs and muscles so their helpless yelps got cut short by their broken necks.

_Oh, come on! This low-life trash isn’t even worthy of my attention._

  
After they were disposed of with minimum effort, Kurumi only would need to open the door and finish one of the tasks her father gave her.

A small rupture of chakra got her attention and she turned her head back the way she came, eyes wide open in unpleasant surprise and slight concern as she localized the source of this aura.

_Father?! A piece of trash is in my father´s room?_

She stood there with the hand on the handle to Chiura’s office and looked at the door with indifference. She looked down on her hand and frowned a little bit with tight lips as she looked back into the hallway again.

_"You shall honor your father and mother."_

This lesson from her mother echoed within her head as she tried to make up her mind. Her target was right on the other side of the door and practically defenseless against her power. But the new aura picked her attention like an itch she couldn’t reach and if she left now then Chiura would seize the opportunity to escape.

She stood there for a while as to make up her mind and threw another look down the hallway she came.

-

Ikune had arranged all the drawings in small piles beneath the table and looked around to appreciate her efforts for now.

The dungeon cell hadn’t been cleaned for ages, which became apparent as she had found several dead rats and even a nest of them within the piles of papers. This place apparently had an old bed of straw and a dirty moth ridden blanket that hadn’t been washed or replaced in decades. 

Just another sign that Amachi simply treated the siblings and their mother before them like a tool and not as a living person which angered her further over witnessing such treatment.

Ikune looked over at the burnt bodies of the family and shook her head, disappointed at the loss.

She turned her attention back at the cell door and wondered what was going on out there.

_What´s Joji really doing?!_

An aura approached the door with calm steps and she didn’t need to look in order to know who it was. The door creaked open and an corrupt being in armor that covered every inch of its human form appeared in the door opening.

  
Hone.

  
She could tell from the aura that it was an ally and a comrade to Joji, Hone was the one who could resume a form that resembled his human one the most, even if he had some cosmetic details that needed to be hidden behind that visor. He was considered one of the more cultured ones when compared to the others that usually stayed in his company such as the likes of Tohru or Mugen and also the one who wouldn’t fail when it came to carry out her orders. Ikune remembered them all as they had been Joji´s comrades since they met, a little like his own gang of negotiators that he treated like his own brethren.

Hone stood in the entrance and looked around as to check how clean everything now had to become, but he quickly discarded it as the visor turned towards Ikune and a slightly distorted tone echoed within it.

He gulped as he noticed Ikune´s judging glare and shook it off as he cleared his throat and put past guilt behind him.

"Miss Ikune, I came here to inform you about the state of the Fellowship."

"Oh yes, about that…"

Ikune clapped her hand just once with a pleased little smile as she now found a solution to her problem. Hone stood with one arm behind his back and the other aligned horizontally right below his chest, a little habit he had when in presence of those with higher authority than he possessed and a sign of respect from him.

Ikune spoke with a gentle tone as she walked up to him. "Go and find Joji. Tell them that the situation with the Amachi blood line has changed."

"What about it?"

"It shall be eradicated by us. So find Joji and make it happen, but don´t kill Amachi just yet. Just kill his bloodline and any witnesses to the death punishment. I want to be the one who takes his life."

"Understood."

Hone turned his back at Ikune and asked something. "So the contract between us and them has been terminated?"

"Yes, you and the rest of that gang will be sent back to the headquarters."

Hone didn’t say much more as he silently left with a vicious chuckle that slowly increased in strength as he closed the door.

Ikune felt tempted to chuckle a little bit herself, but kept it down.

_At least one of Joji´s allies will carry out my orders._

-

Joji was just about to leave his room as a second aura approached the door from the other side and awaited him as he opened it.

The sight of the man in armor made him smile a little as he yelled in a friendly tone. "Hone! Nice to see you again! How have you been up here in Hinoiri?"

Hone shrugged his shoulders and replied with a monotone voice, "The usual. Avoiding discrimination, making sure Tohru wouldn’t go around and sit on anyone by accident, ate a couple of prisoners. Which didn’t taste good for that matter."

Joji felt how the dizziness from his small misfortune with the training log began to wear off, but felt a little better when he talked to an old friend. Hone had to look up at him since Joji was a head taller than practically anyone who didn’t measure over two meters. He asked while he put a friendly hand on Hone´s shoulder and repeatedly clapped on it. Hone just endured the power in Joji´s punches and asked.

"So what brings you here?"

"Miss Ikune sent me to get you to work."

Joji´s happy face expression turned devastated almost immediately and even a little paler. He slapped himself with one hand and muttered, "Oh crap. I should have moved the corpses after all."

The utter disaster in his voice spoke volumes of how much trouble he expected himself to be in now. Hone just watched in silence with both arms behind the back as to enjoy Joji´s lament.

Joji turned his attention at Hone and asked with a voice that implied he really didn’t want to know the answer, "How mad is she?"

"Oh, not as mad as you think."

"So why did she send you?"

"She has given you new orders, to eliminate Amachi´s bloodline and keep the head of it alive for her own judgment."

Joji opened his eyes immediately as he asked with raised eyebrows and wide open eyes of surprise.

"She isn’t mad?"

"No. If I may say, she´s rather pleased with the decision. The contract with Amachi has been lifted."

Joji didn’t say anything at first and remained frozen on spot as his mind tried to take in the latest news. One could see in his eyes how the thoughts moved like clouds over the skies and he began to chuckle, just a little at first before it abruptly escalated to a loud laughter with a smile behind it.

His laughter would have woken up anyone in the hallway if it hadn’t been for the convenience that he had been the single occupant in there. He continued for another minute as he stopped to inhale all that air he lost doing so. 

He mumbled to himself. "So she isn’t angry and I get to have some fun as well? Isn’t that just great!"

"So what are your orders, Boss?" Hone sounded a little vicious now as he held out one arm in front of his body in his way of respect. 

Joji provided the most vicious grin he could as he spoke with dark enthusiasm. "Gather the gang, Hone! All of them! For the first time in decades, we will be able to get rid of the vermin like back in the old days!

And of course, we will carry out Ikune´s orders but we will also have fun while doing that!"

"It will be done Boss. Anything else?"

"Prepare the ritual space as needed and make sure I'm not interrupted in my prayers to Jashin."

He clenched his fists together in expectation as his grin remained. Hone went ahead to carry out his orders and Joji rubbed the back of his head.

"A night out with the old gang. It will be a blast!"

-

An aura quickly approached Royce from behind and he immediately turned his head to the side to face it. 

"KNEEL!"An angry female voice shouted with utter arrogance and pride at the same time.

Kurumi stared down at Royce with utter arrogance as she pointed with the tip of the sword at him. She hissed at the being in the room, the intruder that went after her father and tried to deprive her of what made her special.

"I said KNEEL! You filthy commoner!" Kurumi roared her order as her eyes glowered behind her raised sword.

“I suggest you do what she says, Uzumaki.”

The red haired man closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

Black ooze like shadows floated around the harem, Miyake and his little pet before landing on them. Black splotches grew on their skin until they were consumed entirely, their souls permanently destroyed and the bodies of the noble and his pet left as grim trophies.

The incestous love dolls simply ceased to be.

“I really hate being called a Uzumaki,” Royce said in a calm manner before leaving the wing, killing the fleeing soldiers that escaped the wrath of the others.


	10. Eye Scream

Amachi looked down at the female intruder who by now handled one hundred of his soldiers by herself.

  
But he wasn’t too upset about it. Soldiers could always be replaced and as long a reward waited in the end, they would gladly give their lives for his cause. They had managed to create a square formation that sealed her in with lances on three of four sides. The last one had swordsmen in five rows.

Sakuya looked in their direction. She didn’t have anything to defend herself with. She simply jumped up from the floor, seemingly floating in the air, and they struck down into the line of lancers on the opposite side. The front line of them collapsed as they died from the failed maneuver. Their intruder simply landed on the floor with both feet and headed straight at the swordsmen and snatched a pair of swords from the first couple of them.

"Fourth squadron! Surround her and crush with your shields! Lancers! Surround the fourth squadron and be ready for my orders!"

He looked back at the hallway to his dungeons and began to wonder with ungrateful tones.

_What´s taking those things so long?!_

A door opened and he rolled his eyes as his "contracted guards" now had arrived.

Amachi, had in his deal with the religious fanatics, made a demand that required him to make a contract with them. His request for protection was meant for his bloodline and he wanted the bodyguards to be fearsome and powerful enough to handle anything his competitors could throw at him.

The fanatics had looked this over and simply assigned a group of some experienced negotiators to it, a group that usually took orders from Joji like a group of bandits did to their leader.

-

"The Pack"

A force of five male corrupt beings that would listen to orders and restrain itself and all had a quality over them that could be described as an uncanny lack of humanity, all because of the simple fact that they didn’t remember their human forms or lives and used their new forms to compensate for the gaps in their memories.

  
Hideaki, the one with muscles too large for a normal human being and forced to hide his face at all times as it remained in a merge between human and animal. A true beast with an corrupt beings form that could destroy a whole town with just a few swings of his massive limbs.

A shorter man with blonde short hair and fat like a toad, Tohru. A man with a bottomless appetite and capable of devouring six horses whole in his corrupt beings form. Also surprisingly agile for his apparent obesity.

  
A smaller man with short posture and a long canine in his set of teeth, and an overall dog-like appearance, Mugen. The fastest member of the pack with the smallest form of them all. He could rush through a crowd and cut their knees off with his sharp tusks like they were branches.

  
The tallest and most slender of them with arms that reached down to his knees, Akihiko. A man with the unusual hobby to sneak up on children from dark alleys and snatched them away from bedrooms like a boogieman. He was also the lightest of the pack and capable to leap up and gliding with his corrupt beings form.

  
The knight in armor and most human of the pack, Hone. The one that succeeded with the hard feat of assembling a human form. A man that showed respect to his superiors and despise to those below him. Also the smartest in the pack and never seen without a full body armor on.

  
The pack had the combined power to destroy a quarter of the continent's population when lead by their leader, Joji.

They all wore simple clothing with the exception of Hone who still wore his armor. They had the destructive potential to eradicate a small city on their own and had enough humanity to obey orders. Their assignment to the Amachi bloodline also served a secondary purpose that the fanatics simply left out in the contract and would not concern the humans.

For a short period of time that is.

-

In front of the group Joji stood with a pleased and satisfied grin on his face as he crossed his hands and greeted him. He still wore bandages up over his abdomen and had his feet wrapped as well from what anyone could see. "Good evening, human."

Amachi pointed at the intruder and began to demand with his bitter voice, "Took you long enough! You lazy beasts! Now get down there and deal with this!"

The "Pack" didn’t move and seemed to wait for something from Joji who just stared Amachi down with supreme attitude.

Amachi frowned with bitterness in his eyes as he noticed Tohru standing among them.

"What the-? Didn't I tell you to guard my family! Why are you here? You imbecile!"

Joji looked down at the small battlefield behind him and snorted with contempt. 

Amachi asked again with increased demand in his voice now. "What do you think you´re doing?! Answer me! I demand that!"

"You can´t demand anything from them anymore." Hone spoke with a cold and yet polite hidden stare as he held one arm behind his back. He made a signal to Tohru who slowly raised his hands and Amachi stared in increased shock and despair. "Your contract has been terminated."

  
Tohru´s hands were stained by blood and small strands of hair.

Amachi pulled out his sword in retaliation and thrust it towards Joji´s bare chest. Defeat was not an option and retaliation was the only thing in the man's mind now.

The sword broke from the impact without as much as a scratch on Joji´s skin. Amachi didn’t change his initial expression and remarked with a bitter tone, "I see, monster."

Joji simply punched down on Amachi´s shoulder and he dropped his sword. He then turned his head towards the most human one in his gang. "Hone, bring this human to Ikune. She wishes to have a personal talk with him."

"My pleasure, Boss."

Hone´s hand grabbed around Amachi´s neck and he began to drag him away into the dungeons. Joji then turned his attention into the main hall and the chaos there as the soldiers began to falter without anyone to command them.

He remarked with an interest of uncanny nature over the sight. "A young human girl, huh? Well, that won´t be a problem."Tohru and Mugen looked up at him and spoke with eagerness over the sight of her.

"Leave that to us boss."

"Yeah, we needed some exercise anyway. Or in your case Tohru, even more."

"Pipsqueak."

"Pig."

Joji simply pointed at her and they immediately sported eager vicious grins as they jumped off the stairs with ease.

-

Sakuya noticed the presence of several chakra auras in the room with her and she began to grin with excitement. The soldiers had backed away from her and used the lancers to close a cage around her. Two of the auras approached from above and landed to her sides as she turned her head in either direction to make estimations.

The corrupt beings that approached her resembled a toad and a starved dog in her mind.

Sakuya ignored the corrupt beings as she looked up the stairs and saw the other auras that waited for a show. She somewhat recognized one of them and shouted in excitement.

"There you are! Hey you! With all those bandages!"

Joji pointed at himself. Sakuya kept her attention at him and began to mock and taunt to get a reaction from him.

"Yes, you Jashinist! I know the feeling of darkness and tainted powers well! Get down here and face me! I dare you!"

Tohru and Mugen didn’t seem that pleased over being ignored as they now shouted at her.

"Shouldn’t you be worried about those in front of you?!"

Sakuya simply provided them a smug look each as she spoke with a bored tone. "I don´t care about small fry, so get lost would you kindly?"

Her arms became coated with a sickly green chakra and morphed into overly large demonic claws. The atmosphere around her became tainted and filled with the unmistakable scent of rot and decay. The few humans still alive started to decay while aware of the process due to their proximity to her.

Tohru and Mugen turned furious from her insult and began to shout as their bodies began to turn into their corrupt beings forms…

"Don´t get so cocky, you little bitch!"

Before they could get that far, Sakuya threw out clawed hands and stretched it out to get a hold of both Tohru´s and Mugen´s faces in mid-transformation. Her aura of decay and destruction and clawed hand against their flesh caused Tohru to gasp in shock.

"Huh?!"

Sakuya then drained them of chakra, acquiring them as a sacrifice causing them to rapidly decay into ash and dust with a bored expression.

"How annoying."

Sakuya retracted her arm back to it's normal oversized for her child form appearance and looked up at Joji and the others.

"Now get down here and face me! I came here to fight! And I swear that I won´t leave until I have had my share of it!"

Joji looked down at her and put on hand on the railing as to engage in the battle.

Akihiko put a hand on his shoulder as to hold him back and spoke with obliged and slightly angry tones.

"Don´t worry boss. Let us handle it. We have a bone to pick with that little girl now."

Joji inhaled deeply and just waved with his hand at them. 

Sakuya began to grin even wider as Hideaki and Akihiko jumped down and landed a good distance from her. They looked down at the soldiers that already had fallen for their warm-up and Akihiko remarked with an amused tone, "One hundred and fifty dead and I sensed chakra being used. You must be ninja. Probably from a clan as well."

Sakuya looked at him carefully. "I take it you were some poor bastard from a clan picked up and experimented on long ago." She grinned wickedly. "Let me guess... Senju?"

Akihiko's eyes twitched. "And if I was?"

The grin widened to mirror the chesire cat itself.

Akihiko seemed to think about something as he bent his long arm up and scratched his chin. He muttered to himself as Hideaki headed straight on Sakuya with a fist raised for a punch. Sakuya clapped her hands in delight as she waved with her hands at him like to lure a domesticated dog inside a house.

"Get a little closer so I can devour you!"

Hideaki roared as he now reached Sakuya and was stopped as a katana pierced through his flesh with great force.

Sakuya looked up and got a message from her recently arrived comrade.

"Stop playing around Sakuya, and don´t use your chakra so recklessly."

Sakuya pouted at her uncle. "You are no fun, Madara! Isn't death, carnage, destruction and fighting what you live for?"

Madara twitched. "I'm plenty fun! There's just weaklings here so no need to play with them."

"Well, I rarely get to play, so let me have my fun!" Sakuya yelled out, a deep pout on her face.

Madara shook his head, a fleeting soft smile on his face as he looked down at her. He petted her hair fondly.

"I'll find you some better opponents soon."

Sakuya nodded her head in reluctant acceptance.

"You said something about a Senju being here?" Madara asked after a moment.

The girl nodded her head happily and pointed at Akihiko. "He said he was one when he was human."

Madara turned his head slowly to face his target. "Did he now?"

Hideaki grabbed around the handle and tried to tear it into two pieces but Madara pulled it up in a single attack.

Sakuya saw what he was about to do and shouted, "Hey, wait!"

Too late, Madara sliced through Hideaki´s head and the mountain of muscles slumped down with an earth shattering thump.

Madara lowered his katana and Sakuya yelled at him with a dismayed face. "That's just great! I spent all this time playing with the civvies just to draw their attention to fight them and you just come in and… Thanks a lot!"

  
The last part contained unmistakable sarcasm that Madara decided to reply in kind.

"You are welcome, Sakuya-hime." He suddenly sobered up a little to add, "Do you even have any self-restraint and survival instinct?"

"What are you talking about?"

He frowned at her. "Don´t try to play innocent here. I felt that last move you did and that's risky. You are taking their experience and abilities on and using them for payments and that can be dangerous."

Sakuya grimaced at the scolding.

"Besides, it's pointless to take such weakling on and learning from them," Madara finished in a gentler tone. "I'll find you a better target to get stronger from once we are out of here."

"But I wanted to fight."

Madara sighed and gave in, understanding the urge to fight all to well. "You have plenty of options to choose from."

He lazily waved at Akihiko and Joji as they stared in slight displeasure and puzzled faces. 

Sakuya sighed for a little bit as she gave them both a look and asked Madara with suspicion, "So you won´t intervene when I pick one?"

"Unless it was a life or death situation, no."

"Good! Then you can take the beanpole! Hey, Jashinist!"

She addressed Joji once more; he looked down at her with some interest now, mixed with an upset glimpse behind his eyes.

Sakuya continued once she made sure to get eye contact with him.

"Get down here at once!"

Joji decided to not follow her demand and spoke instead with anger in his voice, "And who do you think you are to order me around like that?! Answer me human! Who do you think you are!"

Sakuya simply replied in confident tone, "I'm the one who is going to rule to bring the world to a better place. And to do that I will slaughter all in my path should they aim to harm what is mine. Including your make believe God, Jashinist!”

Joji laughed a little over this as he now sounded more confident himself. "Beat me? Slaughter Jashin?! Are you serious or are you stupid? Anyway, I was told to not get into some serious fights."

"You are all talk then. Just like your pathetic god, Jashin."

Joji twitched with his eyebrow from the last word.

He grunted and jumped over the railing to land on a dead body which broke from the impact. He slowly rose up while Madara headed to the last corrupt beings in the room.

Joji spoke as he cracked his knuckles and stepped over the bodies.

"My pride won´t take such insults! And nobody gets away with that! Or insulting my God!"

Any thoughts in Sakuya´s mind suddenly came to a halt as she needed time to grasp what just reached her ears. Her smirk slowly dropped in shock.

Madara turned his attention with one eye at Sakuya as the sudden change in her aura began to alert him.

Once Joji got close enough, she slowly snapped out from the initial disbelief and a truly frightening smirk appeared along with an over excited stare. 

She began to inhale deeply as to remark her satisfaction with a single drawn out word of joy, "Sweet!"

-

Chaos.

Only that word could describe the mayhem that now been unleashed by the disturbances within the fortress. Fukumoto´s forces had taken the stairs in the main hall and also struggled against Miyake´s archers who in cover of the lancers fired at will on the exposed soldiers. Amachi´s forces held the ground while they also tried to reclaim the stairs from Fukumoto with mixed results. Miyake´s forces had the ground level and tried to simply subdue Amachi´s forces.

Then there was the clones of the tiny girl who picked off people at random and seemed to enjoy the madness and killing between guards. It was soon joined by a red haired man that systematically slaughtered everyone but the clones.

The doors to Amachi´s area opened and more reinforcements arrived to push both hostile parties to submission. Neither gave up just for that detail as they fired more volleys of arrows into the reinforcements.

As a spectator, Keina stood and watched the whole thing with some minor interest as she headed towards Kimura´s main gate.

This place was prepared for war long ago. All those political tensions within the Fellowship have been set up for this waste of human life to occur. I don´t know what´s worse, the fact that the aristocrats simply treat human lives as pawns on a chessboard or the fact that this mess could have been avoided if they hadn’t given into corruption?

Another pair of swordsmen collapsed close to her with arrows pointed out from their throats. Keina didn’t waste a moment to look down at them as she moved forward.

"And this is just a small disagreement. What would happen if this small-scale war got outside the walls of the fortress? How long would it take until the lands of the continent would engage in a civil war?"

She remembered something that Fukumoto spoken of when asked about possible scenarios for a coup.

_Yes, if the Fellowship of Hinoiri started a war for control over the continent. No, that's not possible. They might be corrupted to the core, they might take bribes and abuse their influence to get their wishes come true, and they might have sent dozens of the other blood lines´ children away to die in attempts to move their own agendas forward, but not even the Fellowship can go up against the ninja clans._

_That would be suicide._

  
She felt relieved as the apprehensions of impending war were silenced and she walked over a fallen archer.

_I'm worrying too much, but there´s still the fact that this world is dependent on the existence of humans. And then there's the hundreds if not thousands of monsters inhabiting the world as well. Not to forget belief in the Great One and Jashin to keep the masses in check. A civil war would be devastating for all parties involved._

One of Miyake´s soldiers noticed her and shouted as he swung his sword. Keina simply vanished in the shadows as she put out the closest torches and the guard stumbled in complete darkness before a loud snap broke it. The man fell down with a twisted neck and Keina emerged from the darkness as she moved onwards to her goal.

Slow clapping was heard and Keina looked at one of the clones who applauded her fight before it took down it's own opponent.

_The extreme fanatics were right. This world needs to be purged. There's too much suffering and too much misery in it. All caused by the humans. I´m glad that I defected to join their cause._

She now stood in front of a door with Kimura´s family weapon engraved over it. She could sense the presence from hundreds of mindless corrupt beings on the other side and how they tried to tear it open.

She chuckle a little bit as she began to increase her own chakra while the door broke down.

_Otherwise I wouldn’t have received this pinnacle of my special ability, the Sovereign Gaze._

The door collapsed from the claws and strong hands that had gone at it for a good while now. The corrupt beings on the other side had abandoned their human disguises at the death of their ruler and the condition of his contract had lifted from their minds. They looked up at Keina with some surprise and didn’t seem to be that happy to see her.

"Get out of the way!"

Keina sighed as she closed her eyes and moved one hand up as she swiped it over her face, all to get their attention towards it as she charged chakra to that part of her body.

"Deserters, I have only one thing to tell you."

She opened them right before they assumed an silver color as they also twisted so their slit pupils became horizontal. 

The monsters backed off a little bit from the sight and they asked in confusion, "Who do you think you-!"

  
Keina interrupted it in mid-sentence as she got eye-contact with them and synchronized with their simple chakra auras.

"Obey my orders!"

A pulse went through every single corrupt beings in Kimura´s hallway as their auras began to falter into submission and the wild stares slowly resembled the ones of domesticated dogs. The process their auras went through as she used her ability could be compared to a complete rewrite of their free will and loyalties. 

The corrupt beings spoke all at once in dull voices and expressionless eyes that lacked free will behind them now. "Yes, your Majesty."  
Keina then moved out of the way and pointed at the chaos in front of them.

"Kill any humans you see in there and stay in the Main hall!"

The corrupt beings began to move past her and immediately roared from the sight of the soldiers and with darkened arms raised over their heads. Keina could hear the screams behind her as she turned around in the thick stream of corrupt beings who now obeyed her blindly.

And they didn’t believe that I would be able to pull this off back in my days with the Chinoike clan. Well, look who´s laughing now, fuckers.

She headed back to Fukumoto´s quarters as her mission been completed and the thick stream of corrupt beings began to tear through the resistance with maws and claws.

_I didn't think my Sovereign Gaze would have become this powerful. Such a shame it only works on lowlifes such as corrupt beings or people with underdeveloped chakra systems... Like civilians._

-

Ikune turned her head towards the door and noticed Hone waiting on the other side. In his hands, the head of the Amachi bloodline protested loudly as he got dragged across the ground all the way down here.

Ikune let out a small pleased smile over the sight and Hone spoke with honor in his bowed head.

"As you asked for Miss Ikune, the head of the bloodline. Alive and sound, obviously."

"And where´s Joji?"

"He´s in the middle of engaging a ninja."

He silenced himself for a short while before he continued with a sad hint in his voice.

"Hideaki, Mugen and Tohru have fallen."

"That´s unfortunate. How's Joji handling it?"

"Boss does what he always does in these situations."

"In other words, he´s actually serious for once."

"You know him as well as I, Miss… if not even better."

Ikune looked down and thought to herself, I don´t need to worry for him. Joji becomes more competent once he gets serious.

Ikune left the cell and the door open as she ordered Hone to drag Amachi into the closest cell to the right. Hone threw him inside in the dirty, rat infested and murky cell. He then left without a word but got stopped as Ikune put a hand on his armored shoulder.

"Hone, you shall guard this door and if anyone approaches it, then kill them without any hesitation."

"I understand Miss Ikune, but if you don´t have anything against it, I would rather go back to my Boss and avenge my fallen brethren."

"I´m sorry for your losses Hone, but I can´t leave the door unguarded."

Hone sighed deeply but nodded his head in resignation. "I understand…"

Hone bowed his head down a little bit and positioned himself as guard post. He also closed the cell door behind him to leave her alone with Amachi.

_Just as requested…_

Amachi looked up at Ikune as he shouted in utter despise and hate at the sight of her. "You backstabbing whore! I knew you couldn’t be trusted! No freak can ever be!"

"Watch your tongue Amachi! If my companion were here then you wouldn’t have a head left! He's quite sensitive when it comes to insults."

"Like I care what a split-tongued bitch such as yourself thinks! You killed them! I should have ordered your execution the same day you approached the gates!"

"Is that a way to talk? Or did you finally show your true colors? But I guess that we can´t be called allies…"

"Allies?! Don´t you dare try to fuck with me! I wanted protection and absolute supervision! But instead I got stabbed in the back! I thought the contract benefited your superiors!"

"Well to be honest, it did."

"Then why did my family have to die?!"

Amachi looked furious as he threw his helmet into the corner of the cell. A couple of rats scattered away from it as he now lost all aristocratic dignity he had. He looked more like a sleep depraved maniac than a nobleman.

Ikune enjoyed the reverse of power that now occurred. She was now the superior one and she didn’t hide it as she replied with serious tone. "See it as retribution for the damage you have caused those two twins, their poor mother and Joji´s comrades."

"What? My family was worth far more than that bunch of freaks! I asked for tools and that´s why I treated them as such! You might have missed it because you´re a monster yourself but Gods be my witness! I did nothing wrong!"

Amachi was silenced as Ikune held him down with a foot on his throat. In fact, she pinned him on the wall with it.

"And that´s why we broke the contract with you. The others at least didn’t squander their gifts like you did. You think that we´re monsters, but allow me to inform you that we care deeply for each other. We even have guidelines and morality that your kin seems to have forgotten about. We don´t harm children, because they´re the future. We don´t harm innocent women since they will give birth to this vision of the future. We don´t kill just for pleasure because we´re not savages such as you are. We treat each other as comrades and sometimes beyond that because our Goddess recognized the potential each and every one of us possess! But what you did to the pack… Burn-marking them? Treating them no different than animals? You’ve barely feed them or provided any food from what I can tell. That´s bad enough as it is and I maybe would have forgiven you for it because they´re my companion´s responsibility."

"Then why…"

"What you did to Hirari, Harushige and their mother is just unforgivable! And as such, your contract is null and void."

"You can't! The others, I´m the only thing that keeps the others in check. Do you realize how many civil wars that have been averted thanks to my efforts?!"Amachi began to speak with great effort as Ikune´s foot began to crush his throat.

"Yes, forty times since the beginning of this year, and another eighty six attempts last year, and two hundred of them the year before that. I guess Chiura and Asaka really went at each other´s throats that year."

A moment of shock in his face and she explained.

"We even took time to sum up all the civil wars that were attempted by the Fellowship since it´s foundation five hundred years ago. I'm quite surprised. Seven hundred thousand and four hundred attempts. I thought they would be twice as many with these short fuses you nobles have."

"You smug little…"

"Be quiet and listen to the teacher. We know that there will be civil war if we kill you, but we have already decided that you can be replaced with a more obedient bloodline."

"You wouldn’t dare!"

Ikune dropped Amachi who slid down the dirty wall in his armor and coughed as to breathe properly and massage his throat. Ikune took a couple of steps away from him and remarked in a challenging tone filled with hidden expectations. "Oh, just watch me."

Amachi tried to get up but his armor weighted him down and he realized he couldn’t move. Ikune took the time to preserve this moment as she moved her right hand up to the handle of her main weapon. She began to look devious as she unsheathed it and Amachi frowned in initial confusion by the sight.

Ikune held a cat o´ nine tailed whip with each tail as long as the ones on a bullwhip, all attached to a sword handle.

Amachi stated with a very confused yet angry tone from the betrayal. "A whip? You bring a whip to a battle?! Well, I shouldn’t be surprised. It fits a freakish bitch such as yourself."

"SILENCE!"

Ikune cracked with her whip along the wall as she shouted in her completely dominate and abyssal voice.

Nine deep cuts appeared on the wall and Amachi began to pale two degrees of white now.

She looked down at him and smiled a small yet incredibly devious smile while her eyes turned amber.

"I will teach you what happens…"

She lashed out with her whip one single time and it hit over his armor before she pulled it back once again.

She waited for something.

Ten seconds later, Amachi´s prized and expensive armor became nothing but scrap metal that slid off his body and into a pile around him. He looked down at it in his white shirt and pants with shock in his eyes, and so pale that anyone could have mistook him for a corpse. He looked just like one of the prisoners that belonged down here according to him.

Ikune spoke again as she straightened out her whip with both hands and ended the sentence with vengeful desire. "…When you betray us!"

Amachi began to panic and tried to barter his way out from this situation. "Wait! Wait! I can give you-"

He didn’t get that far as Ikune raised her whip with the full intention to drag this out as long as she could.

Payback was a bitch.

Amachi began to scream in terror with the perfect impression of fright in his face. He looked death in the eye and to his horror, it looked back and smiled.

-

The old white king with cracks was removed from the political map, alongside the white king that had been dipped halfway in ink.

  
-

  
Akagi's militarized corrupt beings got the upper hand against the already strained and exhausted human troops. Claws elongated into spears and pierced through shields and armors with force behind them.

Some of the more equipped troops such as the plate mail units could deflect the spear claws by the sheer sturdiness in the iron. The human soldiers began to turn into two fronts against the small hoard of demonic corrupt beings as the initial shock and confusion subdued into a small war.

An arrow impaled the chest of one of them. A spear pierced through the dark flesh of another one. a blade sliced through a clawed arm. A maw chewed off a soldier´s forearm before the dark arm sliced up the chest. Eyes that glowed, bows which fired a volley, screams and shouts that sounded both human and yet not. The chaos that now increased in intensity and now became truly worthy of the word as orders bellowed out only to be intercepted by the death throttles from pierced lungs.

Miyake´s troops held their ground against the corrupt beings and used the confusion to assault Amachi´s troops as well. Amachi´s soldiers headed back to the staircase to create a bottleneck scenario, one that would render the hostile forces and their numbers useless in the narrow passage. Fukumoto´s troops had retreated back into their own area but still experienced heavy losses as the corrupt beings had been ordered to attack any human in the main hall.

The corrupt beings had an advantage in their resilient bodies, military strategies provided by the Temple Fanatics, and their chakra that allowed them to endure otherwise lethal injuries. Most of them still wore the armor that were a part of their disguises while moving around with exposed arms and heads. A good number of them climbed up at the staircase. Amachi´s archers fired a volley of arrows as greeting and managed to even kill three of the corrupt beings. The small pack grunted like wild animals as they crashed right into the formation despite their injuries. Claws met metal and flesh before they got pushed off the stairs by shields of soldiers.

"Don´t give them an opening! Fire!"

Another volley of arrows rained down over the ground floor and caused casualties on both Miyake´s troops and Akagi´s corrupt beings. Shrieks and screams of pain rose in the air as a dozen of the troops collapsed on the ground with arrowheads in their throats and necks, but the corrupt beings continued to fight despite the fact that they were hit multiple times already. The human troops seemed to become victorious as they managed to corner the corrupt beings in a pinch between them.

"Next volley! Fire at will!"

Both sides stormed forwards with lances first to create the same devastating effect as a pair of jaws would have on a vegetable. One single chew and the center of Akagi´s forces would be eradicated.

The corrupt beings roared as they destroyed their own armor by brute force and bulking bodies. 

They deployed another tactic designed to counterattack this kinds of situations and waited for the right moment to use it. Half of the corrupt beings jumped into the air and opened their leathery wings, now free from the tight space in their armors as they ascended higher up and began to circle in the air like vultures. As the central hoard now shrunk in size, the pinch would take much longer to take effect and provided the corrupt beings who weren’t winged an opportunity to counterattack. They faced both sides and raised their hands as a volley of their spear-like claws shot out and pierced through the exposed parts of the soldiers and their armors. The favorite target was their faces.

The winged corrupt beings gained the attention of the archers on both sides as they got orders to bring the "flying devils" down to the ground.

The corrupt beings didn’t waste time as they used superior numbers and shark-like tactics to swipe down and pick soldiers of the ground. Human screams began to fill the hall before the corrupt beings simply dropped their victims from a height of fifteen meters. The heavy armors and velocity of the fall broke bones and crushed necks as the soldiers crashed down like eggs.

Some of the corrupt beings didn’t even bother with this play with their food as they just ripped their victims to pieces in mid-air instead. Some of them were pierced in their dives from above by lances and others fell due to well-aimed arrows.

This small battlefield had merely two observer that stood in the entrance to Fukumoto´s area.

Keina needed to gather some information of how the battle would end or see implications of how it could turn out. No messenger would be able to walk in here now with her kill all humans order in effect. One of the flying corrupt beings filled with arrows crashed down by her feet and took a final breath before it succumbed to death.

She also stayed for the simple reason that she enjoyed seeing her Sovereign Gaze in effect.

_The Amachi and Miyake's troops still hold the ground, but I guess it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise. Civilians killing corrupt beings isn’t unheard of, just extremely rare, but they won´t be able to cope with my Sovereign Gaze._

The flying corrupt beings formed a single formation and swoop down over Miyake´s troops as they elongated their claws for a ranged attack. Screams got silenced and blood stained the floor as more bodies fell down over it.

  
_If my former clan could see me now… They laughed at my so called ability with the Ketsuryugan and didn’t believe it to be possible, but it´s not that difficult. If some sensors can manipulate and see auras, and the basic Ketsuryugan control blood, then why shouldn’t it be possible to force one´s will on another? Chakra synchronization mixed with my will and the simple task of altering the chakra and brain waves of the target. A simple rewrite of their minds so they think what I think and turn into something no more different then a pet. I could have given them more precise orders of course, but that would just be extensive and unnecessary in this situation. A shame I need to have direct eye contact with the victim or my attempts to use the eye would prove to be in vain, and that I can´t domesticate anything more complex than a mindless animal, monster or a civilian into doing my bidding. Anything else can only follow my orders just once._

Two direct volleys of arrows in fewer numbers filled the hall and send a dozen of the corrupt beings down into the ground. It didn’t stop them much as they resorted to the use of claws and maws to cause more damage to the enemy.

  
_I didn't put a limit to my order, so if the monsters get eradicated then it won´t be a problem. If they survive then they will stay here and kill any humans that enter this hall. Might become a problem later, if I don´t kill them all afterwards…_

  
The battle raged on and Keina decided to head back to her assigned master. It was a part of the arrangement after all and she intended to fulfill her part of it as long as she could.

Turning around, she stopped at seeing a greatly amused young man with dark red haired and devious golden eyes watching the chaos behind her. When those eyes landed on her, she felt…

She felt fear from this person with no perceivable chakra.

A single finger pointed at the battlefield and he grinned maliciously. “Clean this up.”

“I beg your pardon?” Keina asked the human. “Do you have any idea who you are addressing?”

He waved his hand in a dismissive manner. “Why not tell me then, pretty little thing?”

Keina moved one hand up and once again swiped it over her face to draw attention to that area where she used the Sovereign Gaze on the stranger. “I’d rather show you. Obey my orders!”

And…nothing.

There was no change and for the first time in her existence, Keina was frightened of someone.

The man nodded his head in thought, the irritating grin wiped clean away from his face. “I’ve considered your proposal, and I’ve got to say… It’s been a long time since I’ve wanted to kill someone quite this badly.”

Black feathers and tangible darkness moved around him, latching onto her form as the odd man talked away.

“You see, there is only one being in any creation or universe I would obey without a thought, and that is my beloved Creator. She brought me into existence to be a companion and aide, and all I do is for her and to further her name and journey. She is my Ruler, my goddess and the sheer audacity some weakling like you has to try command me to do anything is insulting.”

  
Those words were the last Keina heard as the darkness swallowed her up.

Mere seconds after her existence was erased by an irate Royce, he did the same to the remaining soldiers on the battlefield before deciding to kill Hone once Ikune separated from him.

-

Joji´s bandaged feet stepped over the dead soldiers as his fists clenched repeatedly. He knew that his big sister Ikune had told him to not engage in fights, but he refused to let anyone get away with mocking him. Even if the child responsible for his aggression couldn’t possibly known about it, he would not hold back.

He took a look at the one who challenged him in question and immediately noticed the strange red eyes. Joji began to wonder about it since he had been told by Ikune that certain human families had bloodline limits or something. Her facial expressions were too enthusiastic and vicious for his liking as he forcefully held his ground and showed the worth of his backbone from not backing away in response.

He stopped once the child in front of him spoke, no demanded, something from him.

"Come on, turn! Perform!"

"What?"

The little girl sheathed her sword behind her back and held both hands up as to hold something as she talked to him.

"Perform the Jashin Reaper bullshit! Come on! Don´t you dare be such a coward and face me head on like that! Bring it out! I want to fight you full force! COME ON!"

Joji frowned and crossed his arms as to silently deny her request. The girl began to crave in chants of battle cries and urged him to get through with her demands all with over excited and wide open eyes.

"…Come on! What´re you waiting for!? Do it! Do it! Do it, do it, do it…JUST DO IT!"

Joji began to wonder if this warrior was serious or not, since every person he met this far had simply demanded him to stay away or ran off in the opposite direction. 

Another look at the human girl that now challenged him, and Joji felt confident.

_The girl is a pure human aside from that weird glowing green chakra cloak giving her vaguely fox like features. She won't stand a chance against me._

A dark chuckle left his lips as he assumed a wide stance and clenched the fists tightly.

"Suit yourself," He said and gritted teeth as he let parts of his chakra flow freely through his body..

A short release of power that contained enough strength to catch the bodies scattered across the room in a updraft. He uncapped a vial about two forefingers length and downed the dark red substance in a single gulp. He clutched his chest, right about his heart, for a moment and his vision swam before sharpening.

Sakuya covered her eyes with one arm to not get blood in them from one of the bodies as Joji stabilized the chakra flow.

Sakuya lowered the arm and looked at the being with glee as she estimated the situation.

His muscles had increased twice their size and bulk with large emerald veins visible across them and his dark silver eyes were now the shade of emerald.

Her eyes gazed over the body as she used sensing to get a clue of his strength. The bandaged feet got her attention and she began to come to her own conclusions of what went on here.

_Okay, he certainly looks like a challenge. A strong muscular body, but that could also be just for show. His aura doesn’t look that impressive to me, and if he wears bandages then he must be a weakling as well._

"So what are you waiting for?" He said with a still frustrated tone and she snapped out from her own perception for a short instance. "I am ready whenever you are little heathen."

Sakuya let that pass through one ear and out the other without much bother. 

Sakuya delivered a straight right hand fist into his face in a single leap at him. Joji didn’t budge a single inch or even blink as she pushed with great force into him. Sakuya looked up and got a precise value of his aura as he couldn’t hide it when she had contact with his skin.

He grabbed around her wrist slowly.

"You know that really hurt," Joji said in an amused deadpan voice.

Sakuya got a good sensation of his aura now and gave him a smirk in return. Her hand shivered from the force as she tried to fight against his grip.

"Stop wasting time on this, if you can fight then fight!"

"I see, then allow me to return the favor."

Joji never let go of her wrist as he turned on the spot and delivered a high kick in her face. He went down to use his hands as support after letting go off her. A second roundhouse kick sent her flying off her feet to his satisfaction. He landed on his feet in the same circular movement. 

Sakuya´s nose bleed profoundly from the hit and she covered her mouth as she coughed a little.

She chuckled a little.

Joji raised an eyebrow of surprise as she lowered her hand and spoke as she wiped her bleeding nose clean with a smudge red mark across her lower left half of her face.

"Yes, you are the real deal after all. This will be…"

She gave him the same psychotic smirk from before and the intensity of her aura increased dramatically.

Joji stated while the girl's injuries vanished before his eyes, "How difficult. Ikune tells me to keep people like you alive, but you want to die. Maybe I´ll smash you unconscious or maybe they will let me kill you without punishment? I wonder what to do, but I have no choice but to."

Sakuya´s corrosive claws landed on his chest, right above the bandages and caused the area to rapidly go through necrosis as a dark and ancient aura emitted from the limb. His response was simply to swing around and kick her back again with a single roundhouse kick. Another stab from her at the leg, along with stone hands rising from the ground to latch on to him this time and he immediately lowered it to dodge her attack. She hit the floor and he spun around again to deliver a straight backward kick this time. She got it and flew a little from the force.

Joji put his hands in his pockets and assumed his own battle stance in advance. His style of close-combat fighting depended entirely on his legs and feet as he needed his hands for everything else. If anyone saw him in battle then they all would have a hard time to understand what they saw.

Sakuya didn’t care for any of it since her blood now flowed in her veins along with the beginning of her adrenaline rush.

The adrenaline rush kept the madness away as id faded at long last, and prevented her from lingering on her uncle’s death.

She never let the psychotic grin fade away as she immediately went at him again.

Not a single word was mentioned for as long her pleasured fight would last.

-

Madara kept an eye on Sakuya who received a punch in the gut but managed to get a punch in his chest in return spreading the necrosis and decay on her opponent. His other half of the attention was at the corrupt being that still stood and tried to figure something out. 

Akihiko had already semi-transformed his arms into slender worm-like tentacles and seemed puzzled by something. 

He turned his attention toward Madara and asked, "Have we met before?"

Madara simply replied with a shake of his head and a short word. "No…"

"You're sure? Because I can swear that…"

"You're mistaken."

He then thrust forward with his katana and Akihiko dodged and headed toward the stairwell with his tentacle arms over the steps. He lashed out an attack in return with his left arm and got it cut off for the effort. He didn’t seem that upset over it as new tentacles grew out almost at once.

He didn’t let go of his puzzled expression or the topic.

"I think I have seen you before. Wait here and I will go and check."

He turned his back at Madara and headed back into the private quarters of Amachi´s quarters. Madara pursued him since he wanted a damned fight.

He headed up a stairwell to the next couple of floors muttering, "Where did I see him before? It's not exactly the same, but it feels like it. Like a lingering memory."

-

The children waited in their cages and hid in the corners of their confinements with hands over their ears. They could hear the fighting from the main hall and combined with the immense shrieking that echoed through the fortress. They had all rights to be scared. Nobody had returned to them after that the little girl and boy left the door with the promise to find the key out. The guards had ignored them and instead screamed about monsters in the hallway as they fled.

They were terrified and tried to become so insignificant as possible so the monsters wouldn’t notice them.

The door to their captivity opened a little bit and something threw shadows over the floor from the narrow ray of light. 

The doors of the cages suddenly were unlocked, sending the children into a mild panic.

A calming green light was pressed over their injuries, and several of the shadows went about healing the children.

“You are safe, little ones. Hikari reborn sent us here to make sure you survive,” one of the healers said in a very respectful tone.

One of the children chirped out to the others, “I told you the white haired girl was Hikari-sama! You didn’t believe me!”

One of the other children, a boy with feminine features groaned. “Stop gloating Katsumi! It’s improper for a young lady.”

  
“Shut up Kazumi! Screw being a proper anything. You girly haired jackass!” The young girl with boyish features told off the boy around her age.

“At least pretend to respect your older brother,” Kazumi uttered, shaking his head in disappointment.

“You are only older than five minutes brat! We are twins, after all.”

The shuffling of papers halted and a torch was brought over to look at the two siblings closer.

Both of them had long black hair that fell down around them like a curtain and had a sleekness to them. Lightly pale skin and warm brown eyes were also the same. The boy was very feminine featured, soft and fragile looking in the ruined brown kimono while the girl was more masculine and stocky built in shorts and a shredded shirt.

Around them was a slight chill.

“Do you belong to a clan? Just so Hikari-sama will know if she needs to bring you back to anyone.”

The two children who couldn’t be more than seven or eight years old looked older as they shook their heads. 

“We belonged to the Yuki clan, a branch of it at least.”

“Our parents sold us for some food and a handful of ryo,” 

The medic nodded his head, filing that away.

Kazumi looked at the medic, realizing they were the same age and pondered on that. “What about you? Why is a kid working for them?”  
The medic smiled vacantly, his gray, almost lifeless, eyes matched his fluffy ear length gray hair. “My clan, the Chinoike, advocate a lot of the rituals, sciences and practices in this world. We oversee the sacred blood transfusions, experiments, and are the cause to the point of corrupted beings for fusing them with the unwilling blood of the goddess. About thirty years ago, we were asked to design a ritual or jutsu to keep the youth and beauty of someone else. I was sent here to oversee the normal medic ninja recently, and because my own clan feels I am unnatural and doesn’t want to deal with me.”

Both twins were speechless at what the seven year old admitted.

“You’re so fucking creepy, you know that?” Katsumi said.

Her brother looked at her in alarm and fear as the Chinoike chuckled darkly.

“You are not the first person who said that to me.”

  
-

Fukumoto herself looked over the map and got the latest reports from her messengers. She began to get bothered by the sudden turn of events that now occurred within the fortress.

All corrupt beings have been taken out along with all the surviving forces. Every other noble lineage must be wiped out now. They have to be. 

She looked up and could see that Keina hadn’t returned yet from her mission. She also waited for reports from Miyake´s area and Chiura´s areas.

_Where´s Keina? She should be back in ten minutes at most. I need her here by my side so she can report all the information my human servants can´t provide. No matter. My plan is perfect. It's flawless._

She noticed one of the messengers she sent to Miyake´s area and asked for the status report.

"Miyake’s harem, troops, the Uchiha love-doll and the man himself have been eradicated entirely."

Fukumoto dismissed him and looked down at the map that lacked even more pieces than before.

_Chiura must be dead then. Miyake’s love-doll wouldn’t have failed such an assignment. Where's Keina!? I need her here, now! I can´t be exposed like this, but then again, who would be able to threaten me here? All the others are dead. I have won._

Another messenger arrived through the door along with one more and she just provided one emotionless look at them before she turned her attention back at the map again. She didn’t have the time to talk right now and simply demanded the report.

"Speak! What´s the status of Chiura´s forces?"

One of the messengers began to speak as they approached her by the table.

"His dogs has been killed off. All of them along and the big one as well. His forces have been destroyed as well."

"Any confirmation of Chiura? Have you seen his corpse?"

"No. We haven't dared to enter his private office, but we suspect that he isn’t there."

Fukumoto looked up at the single messenger and her emotionless façade began to crack in great troubled concern.

"Then where is he-?"

A sharp pain spread across her right shoulder and cold steel cleaved through it and cut her right arm off in a single swing. She looked down in utter confusion and fright as a dark baritone voice answered her from behind.

"Right behind you."

Fukumoto looked back as she saw the second messenger undo something behind his head and his thick mustache slumped down into a divided beard. He held a katana in one hand, one that had been hidden beneath his shirt until this point. He looked down at her and she clenched her teeth in slight anger while she held a hand over the gaping hole where her arm had been.

"Chiura!? How did you-?"

He swung with his sword again and Fukumoto dodged to the right as it instead nearly cleaved through the strategy map. Chess pieces scattered over the table and rolled down on the floor from the impact and she tried to crawl away from him. The heat from her blood that slowly left her made it difficult and she was stopped by Chiura´s accomplice, a tall blond haired man with detached pale blue eyes who grabbed her remaining arm. Chiura´s short stature stomped down on Fukumoto´s chest and he held his katana high in intimidation.

"You know what I always say: if you´re going to get anything done, then do it yourself."

Chiura stood over Fukumoto and seemed to enjoy having his prey cornered like this. His katana posed with a glimmer and he chuckled a little.

"I know what you´re thinking now. You wonder how I pulled it off."

Fukumoto tried to not die from blood loss and even looked scared now. 

Chiura only offered a wide smirk as he loomed over her with his hands behind his back.

"Well let me say this, it wasn’t easy. I had to personally ambush one of your messengers and bribe another one to lead me here. I had to avoid attention from every single force in the main hall and left my soldiers and trophies without as much as a hint that I was gone. They believed that I stayed in my private quarters this whole time and your messengers picked that up and gave you this information, right? Of course they did. I know how you tick, Asuka Fukumoto. You’re too dependent on others to do your bidding. You always like to see everything as a game and send your pawns out to die for the sake of a greater deed. That´s your weakness. You´re exposed like a king in a game of chess! You might have outmaneuvered all the others, but I do everything personally and made certain that nobody knew about this. How does it feel? To be outsmarted by a… what did you call me the last time?” He stroked his beard in a false pose of thought. “A savage mountain dwarf with a inferiority complex?"

Fukumoto tried to talk but barely was able to stop the blood now. She would need medical attention soon if she survived this encounter.

Chiura looked down at her and laughed.

"You know that I like to take trophies from those that I kill, right? I see it as a hobby of mine. Horns, skulls, teeth and claws… Anything that can prove that I killed it, and you always keep those eyes of yours in such high regard. The evidence of your heritage to the Fukumoto bloodline."

Fukumoto´s eyes opened widely in despair over the implications and hissed at him.

“You wouldn’t dare!"

Chiura just chuckled and moved down his head a little bit. "Consider that bet lost."

He turned to the other messenger that made sure to lock all the doors from the inside, all to keep them undisturbed. He also threw a small dagger over to Chiura who caught it in mid-air.

"Brown or blue… Which one should we start with?"

Fukumoto clenched her teeth and Chiura bent down to grab her face and keep it still.

"I guess we go for blue."

He moved the knife forward and Fukumoto screamed as loud as she could in utter torment. He just provided a grin of satisfaction over the whole thing as he now held her blue eye in his hand.

"One more to go."

The door to the strategy room exploded outwards as a heavy blade cleaved its way through it. Chiura looked up and saw how the other messenger was standing there with a twisted smirk at the white haired boy

who did the damage. 

The boy’s red eyes was the last he saw before he was impaled through the chest and had his head sliced off in the span of a few seconds.

Tobirama looked down at the woman who had succumbed to the blood loss and the eye removal before slicing her neck just to make sure. 

He looked at the individual at the door who merely waved at him in passing before turning into a bunch of vividly colored butterflies and flying away.

He had felt the same primordial urge to flee on sight from him as he did the similarly dressed red haired man and his snapped friend.

Shaking his head, Tobirama sprinted back to where he felt the last traces of monstrous chakra stirring.

Not once did he pay the thousands of dead around him as he flew through the hallways.


	11. Chaos Incarnate

Joji grabbed his leg after another high kick and took the moment to get some respite in the fight. He wasn’t pleased that his legs ached and shivered from the beating he received. He clenched his teeth in annoyance as he tried to not go down on his knees from the strain.

_This is getting annoying!_

He looked up at his opponent and frowned.

Sakuya stood on the opposite side and looked even worse than he did. She had bruises over her face and bled from her nose and mouth from repeated impacts there. She hid it well but she too had gotten a beating all over her body from Joji´s kick-based fighting style. One hand held onto the sword and the clawed hands clenched into a fist. She coughed blood and spit out a tooth that had been knocked out of place from the last dozen of kicks aimed at her head. She had used one of the chakra tails to block half of his attacks but let the other half hit her.

Her body had rejected the damage, and her tooth had regenerated already.

And yet, her psychotic grinning expression never left her face for even an instance.

_This was what I wanted. This is what I imagined it to be like!_

The adrenaline in her body pumped and numbed all pain as it filled her with endorphin of joy. She wiped her mouth and began to chuckle over the excitement and battle that made her so happy.

She looked up at her opponent who seemed a little startled by the whole thing.

"Come on… Why did you stop!? I can keep going the whole night!" She paused in consideration. "I thought priests of Jashin were all mass murderers itching to sacrifice a heathen to their god? Was that a lie?"

Joji clenched his teeth and began to wonder if his legs would be able to endure this. He went at her again with a high kick from the side.

Joji couldn’t help but smile at this one as he tried to avoid further injuries on his legs and was unwilling to use his hands unless necessary.

Another kick on her chin that sent her back a little bit, she returned the favor with impaling him with her chakra tails, spreading the erosion inside his body and organs now and scratches from the claws.

The claws only made minor damage as she failed to get through his hard muscles. The tails, on other hand, cracked several of his ribs in two and he was prevented from healing.

In retaliation, he used a knee attack on her abdomen. 

Sakuya began to laugh as the small explosion of adrenaline numbed her head and she immediately went at him for more.

"Come on! If you think that these pathetic little attacks will harm me then you´re seriously mistaken! Do you really think you can hurt me!? I can´t break!"

She impaled him again with stones before creating roots to piece the stones below them and wrap around his arms and legs. 

Sakuya had never had this much fun before and she realized this must be what Madara felt like when fighting.

Madara also did his part to hold her back from complete destruction of her own body in the battles.

I _f that's not irony, I don't know what is. The most battle obsessed individual, curbing his urges to fight to try and restrain another's. In any case, even if I died, I'm sure I could escape that fate somehow._

"I haven´t seen your true form yet! Bring it out!"

She aimed her sword at his face now and Joji dodged it while somersaulted backwards from her.

"Don´t keep me waiting! You weak bastard!"

-

Madara pursued the corrupt being through the halls and saw how it decided to hide in a certain room. He kicked the double doors wide open as he pulled out his and prepared to simply finish the corrupt beings off.

The room seemed to be a gallery over every single member of the Fellowship´s bloodlines and their immediate alliances. Amachi had kept them as a remainder over who his enemies where and had been over the centuries, men and women in portraits along with grand family pictures and memorial paintings of those that died.

Akihiko stood in the center of this room and looked around in his eager curiosity.

_Where…where…where and where…?_

His mind had a tendency to get obsessed with anything that he got interested in. He could even be described as the pacifist in Joji´s Pack. Determined to find an answer to the question that bothered him above anything else has put all his extra eyes in his corrupt beings form to use.

It resembled a large humanoid and slender figure with the round head littered with eyes in every direction and an opening for a mouth at the top. No feet, no hands, only worm-like tentacles that slithered over the floor.

Madara looked for the fastest way to kill him without the need of too much chakra or anything that took too much time to use. He didn’t want Sakuya to become reckless and get herself killed in battle.

Akihiko spoke to Madara as he used his spherical head of eyes to search all the paintings. "I´m certain that I have seen you in here. Maybe as a bodyguard. How old are you, truly?"

He replied with a short and stoic glance. "None of your business."

Akihiko simply attacked him with his tentacle arms just as a distraction while he searched for the answer.

"I have been here many times the last few years. I like this room. So many pretty people and images to look at. Boss tells me that I´m thinking too much, but I like to think about why things are. No that´s not it either. I know you´re familiar and I know about the methods these aristocratic humans possess. Maybe over there? No. So why don´t you tell me you name? It would make things easier. I find the answer and then I will just kill you. It´s important! Otherwise, you will die in an unmarked grave."

Madara simply slashed with his sword and cut of the tentacles as they approached him. 

Akihiko continued to talk away with him as he just replaced the tentacles with new ones.

"Not in this blood line. Maybe as a bodyguard? But I would have spotted it by then. I´m sure that I have seen you before. I have been here so many times that I remember their faces. I like paintings. Only time I can stare at people without peeking into their bedrooms from a window. I don´t like to be treated like a dog. Stupid Amachi. I deserve better than this. Joji and the others will get us out of here. Wait… Your girl killed them."

"Sakuya is not my girl," Madara growled out but was ignored.

"Will miss those guys. Are you sure you don´t want to give me your name? I can´t kill unless I have a name to remember you by. I like names. So far I have killed over two thousand people. I made sure to get their names first. I must have names. I like them too."

Madara ignored his babble and pierced through his body with the tip of his katana. Akihiko didn’t even do as much as shriek or pay attention to it. 

Instead he continued to speak as he stood on the ground and tried to budge his sword out.

"You think you can do that to me? I chose this spot so you wouldn’t reach my head. My head scrapes the ceiling, or at least almost. Your weapon is impractical in here. That´s why I chose it. You can´t reach me without being killed. Wait, then why do I need to ask for your name again? Oh yes,I need names. Did you know I didn’t have a name in the beginning? I was named when I chose my own name. Too bad it´s not my name. Why can´t you give me your name? I have thousands of names, but none are mine. Maybe yours would fit."

Madara pulled his katana out and dodged another strike by his tentacles. Akihiko blinked with a couple of his pale eyes and searched the paintings in his disarrayed line of thought. His tentacles moved over to one of the paintings and he remarked with pleased tone.

"Ah, I found you or someone very close to your appearance. No wonder I didn’t recognize you at first. This picture is old predates the Fellowship and the death of Hikari by about ten years. The great goddess making deals of peace between two feuding brothers, their clans and humans. I wouldn’t even make the connection if I didn’t see your face. Oh, how interesting! Your name is-"

The katana spearhead pierced through the sphere of eyes and Akihiko shrieked in pain now as his tentacles headed to his head. He tried to speak but found it extremely difficult as the sword had been jabbed right in his mouth. 

Madara looked up from the spot he thrown his blade and spoke with a stoic tone, "You wasted your time."

Akihiko´s multiple eyes rolled up and went deadly pale as his body slumped down.

Madara moved out of his way and it collided down in the ground right next to him with the katana horizontally aligned from his head. Akihiko’s aura vanished and a single cough of blood left his throat.

He passed over to the void violently.

Madara pulled his blade out from the demon's head. 

He was about to leave when he stopped and waited a couple of seconds. Madara lifted his head at the portrait that Akihiko´s tentacles targeted with such interest.

It was a painting of what the artist believed was Hikari and the two brothers. 

The darkest red hair he had ever seen in fluffy untamed manner. One eye was molten gold and the other the same color red as her hair. Nine fluffy white fox tails moved around or were wrapped around the others, white fox eyes adorned the top of her head, claws and a wide smile filled with too many sharp teeth met his eye. She looked like she was in her late teens at the oldest.

Beside her was what looked like Indra and Asura Otsutsuki, her tails wrapped around them as she put her clawed hands over the the handshake the two brothers gave each other. They looked around the same age, maybe a little older. Around them were both pureblooded Otsutuki, descendants of the clan and normal humans.

  
_These brothers..._

And he was connected to one of them far more than he desired to be even now.

"I am more than that, more than a mere reincarnation or transmigration, and definitely more than a memory," Madara snarled out. "I'm my own person. I won't let anyone control my fate anymore!"

Madara left the burning gallery, a dark look and grin on his face.

-

Ikune exited the cell and seemed relieved as she holstered her whip and a pleased grin on her face. Hone stood obediently on his post and looked past her to get a peek in the cell but to no avail.

He had to ask. "So what happened to the contract breaker?"

"The rats can have his remains. Or the scraps of him. Anything to report?"

"No, but Akihiko just died. If you don´t have anything against it then I would ask to leave and join my boss in his battle. I wish to extract vengeance for my fallen friends."

Ikune looked up and noticed that Joji had used more of his aura now and seemed to experience some difficulties with his opponent. She shook her head a little, followed by a sigh.

She turned her attention back to Hone and gave her decision to him.

"Go up there and observe. I will be right there once I finish packing the drawings."

"Understood, Miss Ikune."

Hone headed up in human running speed as she entered the dungeon and retrieved the packets of drawings and information the doomed family had decoded over the years. 

They all had a peculiar ability with the Byakugan that put them into pure support roles to the rest of the clan. They had no fighting potential, but could see auras, threats, or anything given enough information and time and had the artistic ability to recreate and exact replica of what they saw.

The mother was captured from the clan due to this ability, and her offspring had the misfortune of possessing the mutation as well.

Ikune frowned as she looked at the last image that one of the twins drew along with some information on it.

Joji was slain with a small human girl stepping on his corpse with a triumph expression on her face. 

Ikune dropped everything and departed as fast as she could towards the stairwell in speeds suitable for race horses. If she went faster then she would crash into the walls.

She only had one major concern in her mind and prayed that she wouldn’t be too late to save her last family member.

-

Both combatants stood now and still hadn’t managed to get the advantage over the other, all while they basically stood face to face like two boxers in a ring.

Sakuya had begun to use chakra to even stand up now as she had taken a far worse beating then Joji. She held her fists high and used both hands to hold her borrowed sword upwards at his chin. She still laughed with blood between her teeth as she never stopped her crazed smile.. 

Joji didn’t look much better as his legs and body started break down from the power behind his own kicks. He began to pant from it as his legs felt like weak branches that barely would hold his body. It was like he could feel the cracks that he imagined for himself spread over them. His clothes had taken a toll and the bandages around his abdomen dangled uselessly after a shift swipe from his opponent. That along with the swiftly spread decay that indicated that his skin, the one thing he was so proud of, the one thing that was impenetrable and close to indestructible, hadn’t healed yet. He realized if his opponent got wind of this then he would be in great trouble.

A second presence approached and he turned the head at it from below.

"Boss! Are you all right?"

Hone stood there and wait for further orders. He simply yelled back in a carefree tone. "Yeah, I just thrashed this one. So how´s Ikune doing?"

"She will be right here. I can feel her presence and told me to rush here."

"Rush? Why should she worry? I mean I have…"

The chakra vanished completely from the girl and Joji slowly turned his head at her again, all with a confused expression this time mixed with a displeased one.

The girl was grinning wider and more deranged than ever before.

He raised his foot, sprouted green claws from his toes and heel, and prepared to crush her head like an egg. Nothing could stop him now.

The moment before his heel would launch away like a battering ram on a castle door something suddenly happened right in front of him in the blink of an eye.  
The chakra aura had gone dormant in the girl, but that seemed only make her stronger. A terrible sensation filled the air as she lifted her head up to look at him fully. The Sharingan was active and seemed on the verge of changing. 

The atmosphere that clung to her darkened and pushed his lungs together, making it difficult for him to breathe.

"Do you truly believe one like you is blessed?" The girl heavily mocked.

The aura intensified and grew thickened it seemed as tendrils of darkness escaped her elongated shadow.

"What? And you are blessed then?"

No response from the girl and it looked like she hadn’t even heard him. He clenched his teeth in anger and bent his leg to katana her from above with the pressure from his swing. 

-

Ikune arrived just in time to see Joji unleash his blow and noticed the figure that was his opponent. She immediately began to pale from the ominous aura that Joji now stood in front of.

"…This is the last warning!"

His voice got her attention and everything began to slow down so she could catch every single detail of what would happen.

Her senses tightened and it was like she could see Joji´s leg, curved like the scythe of the grim reaper, swing in death´s speeds which eradicated the flow of time and replayed the life of the one on the receiving end in the infinite moment before absolute death would sever the unfortunate soul´s mind from the body.

The little girl in his way who showed no fear.

She panicked with all her might and screamed at him her most alerted voice. "Joji, STOP!"

_Too late._

Joji´s foot which been charged up vanished into splinters so small that it looked like dust. The dead areas of his body exploded into dust as well before moving to the healthy parts and eating away at his flesh.

-

Joji opened his eyes widely in utter shock as in one second; his leg touched the smallest of snow white strands on her head, only to in the next disappear into stardust up to his mid-thigh before moving to the rest of his body with a few moments. His mind had yet to catch up with the sensation of pain that would soon follow and he just thought one single thing in complete dumbfounded surprise.

 _What the fuck?!_  
The force behind his severing scythe kick had connected.

His "ability" had not fluke out on him.

He had hit the child with the strength of the grim reaper harvesting souls on the field.

In his eyes, this was no different than a straw of wheat that had blocked and clashed against the blood-dried iron of death´s scythe itself.

An illogical outcome that Joji couldn’t fathom even if he searched the depths of his mind.

The girl muttered something, "Such confidence."

That was the last thing he heard or saw, before his body and soul exploded into the finest splinters. The darkness around her consumed the essence and being of the priest, pleased with the sacrifice. Sated for the moment, it vanished.

The girl's knees gave out from the rush and the fight, and she passed out fully.

A young boy appeared from behind the shocked Ikune and jumped over the steps at once. He headed straight to the one that had been fighting Joji for so long and caught her before she hit the ground. 

He spoke something that nobody in the room could hear and swung his katana in the direction of Ikune.

Ikune frowned as the boy felt older and far stronger than his age and appearance suggested. He was obviously of Uchiha clan descent given the Sharingan blazing fully at her in hate. It seemed to be on the verge of evolving as he glanced down to check the girl's vital signs.

"If she dies, I will destroy you and everything you hold dear all the way to your pathetic gods."

Ikune fully believed him.

"We´re leaving." Ikune sighed in dampened frustration. "Right now."

The man in the armor nodded his head and the two vanished before Madara's eyes.

-

Madara ignored them and concentrated on the damned girl in his arms. It took a few minutes to find signs of her being alive for some reason, but when he say her chest rise and fall, and felt her slow but steady pulse, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He made sure that no one was nearby yet before her petted her hair.

Madara smiled down proudly at her, before swiftly kissing the crown of her head and backing away.

He picked her up and carried her toward where he felt a very annoying presence coming their way.

“Drop him right now, Uchiha!”

_I see her, not a shadow clone but her, for the first time in two years and this asshole actually expects me to let her go and…_

Madara stared at the obnoxious Senju with a dull look. “You still think Saku is a-”

He was silenced by a bloodstained finger tip pressed against his lips. The Sharingan, two tomoes in one and one in another, faded away to her natural dark red gaze and she looked up at him sourly

“Don’t ruin my fun right now,” she whispered.

He nodded but kept his hold on her tight, feeling she shouldn’t be moving around yet.

“Where is Izuna?”

She paled further and looked like she was on the verge of passing out. It might have been due to the adrenaline rush finally ending and her crashing a bit, but he had the sinking impression that it wasn’t that simple.

“He is-”

She stopped and shook, her gaze anywhere put on him.

An exasperated sigh prevented him from asking her about it. “If you are talking about the Uchiha brat we found, he should still be hanging in that bathroom.”

Madara froze and his head creaked as he turned it toward Tobirama. “What?”

The Senju grimaced, remembering the scene perhaps. “Saku lost his fucking mind when he saw the Uchiha dangling like a butchered animal, bled dry for some weird ritual.”

The girl in his arms started to soundlessly cry and seemed to be struggling to keep the chakra from reaching her face.

 _She acquired the Sharingan from seeing my brother’s-_

Madara forced himself to stop thinking and ordered Tobirama to show him where he meant. The Senju naturally objected to being told to do something, especially by a member of his clan, but his gaze lowered to Sakuya and he seemed to grit his teeth and bear the order.

“Follow me then, Uchiha. Try to keep up.” Tobirama said before sprinting off, Madara fast at his heels.

-

Seeing Izuna hanging there like that proved to Madara that she had every reason to snap and act like she did.

Sakuya was strong enough to walk so she left his arms, and he cut the robe binding his brother.

With a heavy heart, he caught his brother in his arms and turned toward Sakuya who had her eyes closed and arms wrapped around her.

“Can you bring him back?”

Sakuya frowned, lifting her head in his direction but not opening her eyes. “I can try. It’s his body that will be more troublesome to deal with. He was bled dry, his body broken and wounded, and his chakra was suppressed up until his death. I have little skill outside of healing moderate external wounds with water, and I haven’t any idea how to recreate bodies or make empty shells for souls yet.”

”I believe that I can help you.”

Madara turned to the entrance and saw an unusual sight. He took in the retinue of green robed individuals, the odd assortment of children, and what looked like two twins behind the person in front before looking at the young boy.

He felt wrong and very dangerous despite the fact he was bowing to Sakuya, a hand over his heart in deference.

The ear length gray hair was longer in the back and front where bangs framed his face like fangs. Gray eyes that first seemed lifeless glowed with many emotions as they gazed at his niece. Pale skin that was almost death-like in it’s hue, clothed in the darkest of blacks and red cloth for his kimono and reeking of blood despite none on him.

_This child of seven was unstable and dangerous._

“How can you help me?” Sakuya asked, opening her eyes and taking careful steps toward him. “Who are you?”

The child stood up, a look of surprise on his face for a moment before it transformed into a pleased smile. “You wish to know who I am? An unworthy tool such as I?”  
  
“You’re not a tool, you’re a person. More than that, you are not unworthy or useless. I want to know more about you,” Sakuya, ever the peacekeeper and manipulator, said sincerely with a genuine smile.  
“Arima Chinoike,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “I have trained in everything related to the sciences and our particular version of blood manipulation. As such, I am more than adequate at healing and replenishing the blood within the body once you retrieve his soul.”

  
“Huh. How about that?” She said vacantly. “Well, let’s go do that.”

The other healers led the children away and Arima instructed them to head to the medical wing where it would be easier to accomplish.

  
“She does not need to linger here anymore.”

Madara didn’t even think of the possible psychological harm being in the room again would cause her, and clearly the Senju didn’t either.

It pained him for some reason to see the relief and happiness for not being in that room.

Her soft, quiet words of gratitude haunted him as he carried the body.

-

Izuna was placed on a stretcher and Sakuya stood next to him, her arms outstretched, palms cupped as if she was trying to hold something. She had apparently been trying to find his soul for the last hour since it had passed on.

  
When it was entering the second hour of trying to find the soul, Madara was starting to lose hope and finally noticed how this task was the only thing keeping her awake and standing at this point.

“Saku, that’s enough. Stop.” His words were heavy on his tongue and foul tasting. She had started to cry then, her body shaking from exhausting and what he was suggesting. “Don’t cry. I don’t blame you. You tried your best after all.” He gave her a shaky smile, faint and almost not there at all. “Don’t worry Sakuya, I’ll always be with you so stop.”

Her eyes widened to almost comical degrees before she became determined.

“No! You don’t understand, Madara. You can’t make me stop!” Sakuya shrieked, reedy and breathless with pain and exhaustion. “I won’t stop! I won’t ever give up! I- I will always continue, alright!? I will never, ever give up!”

A bluish glow entered her cupped hands and a relieved smile plastered itself on her face.

“It worked.”

Within moments, Arima and a few of the medic ninja were at the stretcher. The Chinoike attached an IV filled with some poison and venom to her arm and another IV filled with nutrients and his normal blood type to the Uchiha. 

Coloring returned to the girl’s pale face, and she was less tired as she pressed the blue light into his brother’s body.

Nothing happened for a handful of moments, and then there was a slow rise of his chest.

Arima lead the exhausted girl a few feet away from them and settled her down in a chair. In his hand was a silver knife that was curved at the tip for slicing and digging.

“How much blood will you be giving him?”

“As much as it takes.”

Madara glanced at her, unsure of what she meant and torn between what is going to happen.

The Chinoike boy nodded somberly. “I thought as much, my lady. You do understand how much this is going to hurt for the first time, right?”

She nodded. “Yeah. It’s good. Let’s go.”

Without any further attempts to sway her opinion, the gray haired and eyed boy cut down both her arms, and down her legs deep enough to start a strong amount of blood to flow out. He activated his bloodline limit, the infernal red as blood glow taking over the gray and controlled the blood with subtle movements of his hands.

Moving it from Sakuya into the veins of Izuna who had similar cuts was difficult and caused pain for both. Izuna was still unconscious and as such didn’t feel pain as the waves of healing chakra healing his wounds and trauma then eased the fusion of the blood.

Sakuya was far less lucky.

Painful screams of anguish were ripped from her throat and she trembled in fear, her gaze darting around as if seeing something he didn’t and judging by Tobirama’s sudden wariness he knew or suspected what this was.

-

After a half hour of this, Arima stopped moving her blood and the remaining traces went back into her body where the cuts healed over.

Half closed eyes drifted over to the empty bags that were formerly filled with toxins and she smiled faintly.

_Someone knows about my allergy at least and combated it ahead of time._

Distantly she heard Arima explain what temporary symptoms Izuna might feel for a few days: tremors, sweating, nausea among them.

_He’s making it sound like a bad case of jet lag._

It was when the possible longer lasting symptoms of hallucinations, vivid flashbacks, and phobias given how he died popped up that she herself felt so tired and weak that she was going to die.

Die for good.

Much to her surprise, her two ‘creations’ made themselves known to her in her mind in order to calm and reassure her.

“You’re not going to die, Creator.” Gavin said, his tone calm and collected.

Royce was more confident and cocky in his answer. “You’ll live. You’ll always live.”

As one they added, “We won’t let you do anything else.”

She slipped into unconsciousness with a weary smile on her face.

-

The fighting stopped as fast as it had started.

The main hall was littered with bodies of both humans and dead, gutted, corrupt beings. The body of Sagawa lay a bit from the entrance to her area. She still smiled with the broken mirror in her hand and cold dead eyes that stared up on the ceiling in pool of her own blood.

Countless of dead soldiers decorated the insides of not only Sagawa´s area but all the others as well. 

Fukumoto´s area had been effectively abandoned, the destroyed body of Fukumoto herself present in the strategy hall.

Chiura´s area was a massacre with dead corrupt animals all over the place. 

In Kimura´s area, the dead corrupt beings and the white dust that remained of Akagi remained like a dune in the desert. The doors to his private quarters remained closed.

In Miyake´s area, the harem was destroyed alongside the Lord and the traitorous Uchiha and all other forces. 

Gato's wing was burnt and destroyed, his family torn into as if by animals.

Amachi´s area was a disaster zone with fallen bodies of soldiers mangled, mutilated and carved apart, scattered around like decorations of death across the main hall. The bodies of the fallen beings, Hideaki, Joji, Mugen, Tohru rested decapitated as did Akihiko in the assembled burnt down gallery of the bloodlines. Amachi himself was nothing more but a humanoid shaped bloodstain leaned up against the wall in a cell. A couple of rats began to chew and lick up the remains with caution. The others in the bloodline rested in their beds with crushed necks and frightened faces.

Blue blood has been spilled tonight and tomorrow…

  
Tomorrow the stage of rebuilding begins.

-

  
The cries of birds echoing from outside, the gentle breeze across her skin, and the obnoxious light from the sun blinding her all hinted at the unacceptable outcome that it was early morning and she felt like she had a god damned hangover.

Sitting up, the white haired girl tossed off the silk sheets and knew two things even without looking around.

One, she was not in her room back home nor was she in the guest bedroom the Senju gave her.

  
Her gaze took in the richly decorated, but surprisingly not that gaudy given the previous owner was likely the former leader of the now deceased families, master bedroom and she wasn’t offended as much as she thought she would be.

  
The colors, orange and purple like a deranged sunset, everywhere did clash horribly and gave her a headache the longer she stared at it though.

 _Amachu had shit taste,_ she thought sourly. _Or was his last name Amachi? Pikachi? Pikachu?_

Royce snickered in her head at how out of it she was, and Gavin gave a world weary sigh.

  
_Great… They are here. Fan-fucking-tastic._

  
The door to the bedroom opened and she looked over to see a green robed individual who was carrying a small box filled with various cleaning tools.

 _Green robes? The medic ninja that belonged to Sagawa? Have they doubled as cleaning staff then?_ Sakuya reflected on that quickly. _Well, every other guard and servant was massacred so it would make since for them to pick up the slack._

She considered the medic ninja, a woman in her middle years, with some respect. _Good, they didn’t flee at least._ A fleeting smirk adorned her face. _Of course, I had instructed Tobirama to slaughter any deserters or traitors if they tried to escape before we went our own ways._

Her auburn hair was in a high pony tail, laugh lines stretched her mouth showing she smiled and enjoyed things more than frowned, and her jade green eyes were wide and emotional.

Those same jade green eyes now stared into her blood-drenched gaze and she dropped the box of cleaning supplies. They were quickly forgotten.

  
“Oh!” The woman exclaimed, covering her mouth with the tips of her hand and seemed genuinely aggrieved for some reason. “I didn’t think you were awake, I swear!”

Sakuya blinked owlishly. For the first time, all of her eloquence and words slipped away by just how dumbfounded she was in this single moment. This was echoed with her, quite lackluster and more than a little wary, greeting.

“Yeah, hi, nice to meet you. What’s up?”

The woman moved down to her knees and then kneeled down, her forehead touching the rug covered floor in front of the bed. 

“I beg your forgiveness and your blessing, Sakuya-sama. I am but a humble servant.”

  
There was such reverence, such raw awe and devotion to her in the woman’s tone that she was even more flabbergasted than before.

  
Sakuya inched out of bed, sitting at the edge of it and looked at her what was she…?

  
A servant? A follower?

  
“You are in the main bedchambers of the Amachi family.” The woman explained, keeping her head lowered as she moved up off the floor. “They say the nine families had conspired against you, that the nine families tried to destroy all life and rule over us but you upon being reborn and hearing of our grief saved us at last.”

“You’re welcome?” Sakuya said and the woman raised her head smiling happily.

“It’s all anyone has talked about for the last three days.”  
  
Her thoughts ground to a halt then as she finally processed how long she was asleep. _Wait? I’ve been out three days? Shit! Madara is probably killing Tobirama or Tobirama is killing Izuna, and god…me I guess only knows what Arima is doing._

  
Her gaze flickered to the sheets and blankets then back to the woman who was standing up.

“The citizens of Hinoiri and the villages and territories that the Nine ruled are…happy with me?”

“I’m only saying what I heard. I didn’t mean anything by it.” Then the medic ninja noticed the long dried blood on her body, formerly white sleeping gown, and the bed and left the room in a hurry.

She got off the bed and stared blankly after them, watching as the crazy woman informed guards or something that Kouzai had been attacked during her time of recovery.

Five profoundly strong and borderline raging chakra auras were felt in different areas of the complex and within mere minutes all of them were heading her way with killing intent that made all the civilians in the area back the fuck away on instinct.

Arima, the child who reeked of blood and felt like shadows and darkness, cool and not physically there but always present, was the closest and had arrived in a rush of shadows, stepping out of the darkness with a vial of poison and a distinct worried expression on his face. Relief blossomed on his face after checking her out for physical wounds and finding none.

Tobirama, the ocean and the stormy waves himself, was the second to arrive, his hand on the handle of his sword and gaze darting around before turning on her and her attire. 

“What are you wearing?”

“A dress.” Sakuya answered in a detached manner. Everything was starting to seem surreal. “I am more worried about who changed me.”

Arima coughed, a faint blush on his pale cheeks as he stared directly into her eyes. “One of the female medic ninja I trusted enough for the task washed and bathed you.”

Tobirama scoffed. “One of us should have done it. Less embarrassing for a young boy to be washed by others of his gender.”

Arima blinked and looked at the white haired boy with blatant confusion on his face. “Sakuya, Saku to you apparently, is a female.”

“She can’t be a girl! Girls are weak!” Tobirama argued loudly.

“Wow, just wow, Tobi.” Sakuya said slowly. A brutal smile grow inch by inch on her face with each word she said. “I know females are practically worthless in canon and most shonen worlds but damn, I thought we had a great friendship or rivalry or both going on here, Tobirama. But to learn how you feel towards my gender is shocking.”

Sarcasm hid most of the genuine hurt, and both of them were aware of that. Tobirama shifted uncomfortably, looking away from her and toward the door where Hashirama stopped to catch his breath.

She was stunned at why Hashirama was there, or when he got there but couldn’t even ask before the embodiment of the darkest forest and sunshine himself hugged her and checked her for wounds.

She wasn’t as close to Hashirama as she was Tobirama, and that was insane to even consider, but they were good friends. She didn’t tease him about being softer than most would like, enjoying the gentle and eccentric young boy and enabling a lot of his mischief since they were alike in more ways than she expected, and hugged and comforted him and encouraged him to show more public displays of affection…

Which was probably the reason why they were both big on skinship, hugs, touching and affection and how he viewed her somewhere between a great or best friend and a younger sister. Or something… Whatever or however he viewed her, it was quite close.

“Saku! Tobirama headed home right after you passed out and told me what happened and we returned last night.” Hashirama rushed out before tightening the hug and petting her hair. “You did very good at protecting yourself and Tobirama.”

”I didn’t need protecting!” Tobirama snarled out, glaring at Hashirama who didn’t recoil from the antics.

“Those were your first kills, right?”

Sakuya nodded slowly.

“I’m sorry it had to happen at all. I’m glad you are alright.” Hashirama nodded his own head, coming to some decision. “I will do all I can so you won’t be forced into that kind of situation again. No more small children or children at all taking on the hate of adults. I promise.”

She nodded again, so completely lost and when the last two people arrived she wasn’t surprised at what happened next.

Madara was expected, the guy craved fights as much as he wanted to end them. A hypocrite worse than herself. 

Izuna felt slightly different, more powerful but he was healthy and alive and she didn’t care much beyond that. She was worried about him being there though.

Tobirama stood between her and his brother, shielding them from Madara and Izuna when they finally arrived.

“Let go of her!” Madara demanded, glaring at the two brothers, his gaze turning bloody as the Sharingan was activated as a warning.

Tobirama gripped the sword tighter, and Izuna echoed the sentiment.

Hashirama was pulling her behind him and stared solely at Madara who focused on him alone.

A stare down commenced and the sheer amount of tenseness in the air made her want to just go back to sleep to ignore everyone.

“Oh sweet ancestors,” Arima declared, drawing all their attention to him. “I’m in the middle of a sitcom or a romance comedy and I have so many regrets leading me to this point.”


	12. Power of Blood

If someone told Sakuya she was going to be juggling some type of limited live and let live policy for the Uchiha and Senju clan, and that it actually seemed like it might work, even a week ago, she would have bluntly called them insane and backed away slowly.

  
But now, not only was Hashirama’s and Madara’s friendship, and Sakuya used that loosely on the madman’s side, revealed to Tobirama and Izuna but the fact she knew and had befriended both sides was known. There was less tension due to her knowing both sides, and a swift explanation that she was neutral and didn’t see individuals as clans or lineage or alliances but for who they are stayed greater investigation.

The five year old girl stopped writing out the proposition letters for both clans, and rubbed her aching hands. Between using dozens shadow clones to go through centuries of lineages, connections, letters and official documents and alliances involving the nine families, and using the knowledge to formally write out requests to the Uchiha, Senju, Hyuuga, and about a dozen other clans to hire them out for different tasks in bringing order to the masses who were long abused and neglected by those supposedly in charge of them, Sakuya had been working long hours to deal with it.

Aside from the rare few hours of sleep at night, and the naps she was forced to take by Arima Chinoike, the two Yuki twins, and the rest of the insane gang of friends she had collected during the day, she was working constantly and the girl was going insane from how every one of the noble families except for Gato never collected or did any work.

She stretched, her back popping at the sudden action after hours of being bent over the desk doing scribe work and her gaze darted to the fresh candles near her desk and the star filled night sky outside the window behind her.

Arima or one of the medic ninja likely had replaced the candles without her noticing it.

 _Judging from the height of the moon, I would guess it’s about midnight,_ Sakuya thought before looking at the two other presences in the room. In the window alcove, laying down on the bench of sorts was Izuna who was dozing. 

The bright moonlight kissed his skin, kissing his dark features and raven hair fondly. She smiled tiredly, still in shock he died and that his soul was almost beyond what she suspected was the Pure Land here.

But he is alive…and well.

The smile became bemused as the other sleeping boy was similar to her in appearance, and to a point mannerisms. 

Leaning up against the ornate wooden bookshelves in the far northwestern corner of the room was a sleeping Tobirama. His head rest against the books, a few in his laps and more than a couple had fallen onto

the ground. The light from the fading lanterns set his pale skin and hair aglow and gave him a false sense of peacefulness and serenity.

With soundless movements, she made her way over to Izuna and roughly shook him awake. 

He awoke with a start and nearly tumbled out of the alcove but caught himself in time. Blinking rapidly, Izuna rolled his eyes at her wide grin.

“That was really rude, Saku.”

“I’m rude,” she said with a cocky grin before handing him the documents and a pouch filled with ryo. She made sure the ryo inside there was far more than a permanent retainer or two from the clan, and would imply that there were many more tasks and missions she would pay them well with.

“Take this and deliver it to your clan head. Also, see if the individual known as Hisato may come to teach the medic ninja and the masses various medical ninjutsu techniques and basic education.”

Izuna blinked and opened his mouth to comment on why she was using those kinds of terms when he stiffened at seeing the other sleeping boy. He closed his mouth with a click, and accepted the items and she turned around to Tobirama.

The slight sound of the window being opened, and Izuna slipping out into the night, occured behind her as she walked over to Tobirama and gently ran her fingers over his hair.

He didn’t even stir. In fact, as insane as it sounded, Tobirama almost looked like he was leaning into the small gesture.

A dark sadistic grin blossomed on her face as she thought about what she could do right then.

Poking the older boy in the face, and seeing he didn’t even flinch or shift away, Sakuya lowered her head to his ear and whispered in a airy manner, “You are looking quite vulnerable there, my dearest. Someone with less morals might take advantage of it.”

When he didn’t respond to that, she licked his cheek and that caused him to wake up with a start.

Using the wood from the chair he sat on to trip him, she was aiming for him to fall on his face. 

Unfortunately she didn’t take the fact that Tobirama was the type of person to drag his friends down with him when it wasn’t a life and death situation.

With a resounding whack, her head hit the floor and she instinctively closed her eyes and rubbed the bump. That was a downside of her swift regeneration, most of the time the bruises, cuts, bumps and minor lacerations were the last to be healed since they weren’t major or fatal damage.

She opened her eyes, and a dark blush painted her pale cheeks until they were almost as red as a cherry as she realized their position.

His hands were on either side of her, his legs on the outside of hers and for all intents and purposes she had been pinned in a very provocative pose.

It was just her adult mind seeing this innocent accident as anything but.

He seemed stunned, blinking slowly as he tried to figure out what happened. He definitely didn’t understand what this position meant.

_Still won’t prevent me from screwing with him._

Sakuya fluttered her eyelashes coyly and whispered, “Please be gentle.”

“What?” Tobirama stated in a dull tone, blinking so quickly she swore he was trying to signal in morse code. The only reason she moved past that was because none of them knew what morse code was here.

She sighed and pushed off the young boy and handed him the letter to the Senju clan once she was standing up again.

“Take this to your old man. I will be permanently hiring you and Hashirama to help me manage this god damn mess I apparently bought with killing everyone in charge.” Derision and great displeasure twisted her face at the situation she had inherited from generations of mass murderers and assholes. “While I will be covering expenses from both you and Hashirama on the jobs, I will also be hiring the Senju clan to help me systematically go through the lands and villages and territories and see what can be salvaged, what needs to be burned and the weeds removed, and what is still in working condition. Whenever the clan head finishes and signs it, return here and we can begin”

A cold, calculative look entered his eyes as he accepted the money. “You don’t trust these people.”

She neither confirmed or denied that and instead took a third option. “I would rather have the people I trust, love and appreciate by my side as I try to see if their is any worth in this fiasco.” Sakuya stared at him with a slightly tilted head. “Unless you don’t want to be a part of this, or feel you can’t at least attempt not to kill the Uchiha and others in my employ. I wouldn’t want to damage your pride in yourself and your clan by lowering yourself to help a child with far too much at risk. A child younger than you, who is female so a lot of people would likely take advantage of that fact in various ways…”

“Sheath your claws Saku,” Tobirama mocked before roughly rubbing her hair, messing up the wild locks further. A small smug smirk rested on his face as he knew such things always upsetted her. “I’m not leaving you alone with the Uchiha. They will likely rot your mind or upfront kill you for the slightest promise of power.”

_Yay for fantastic racism? Or was it more bigotry?_

“Why did you ask me to do this?” Tobirama asked.

  
A quick glance over his posture, the signs of curiosity, and the blunt honesty in the ocean of his chakra signature revealed it was an innocent question.

“Hashirama is helping me come up with a good speech for the masses to explain what the hell happened here and what is going to happen here and to the rest of the known world. He’s far more a people person than either of us.” Sakuya explained in a detached tone. It was near monotone and like she was repeating something that had been engraved within her for some time. “You really don’t want to be around Uchiha longer than you are forced to, you are the fastest person I trust to deliver this to the Senju, and I trust you since you are my dear friend.”

Tobirama rolled his eyes before leaving through the window, which Sakuya closed and locked before blowing the candles out.

Her Sharingan sprang to life as she left the area, giving her a slightly red tinted low-night vision. She decided to head to her temporary bedroom for the night.

Sakuya awoke several hours later at feeling the distress, annoyance, rage and the like in the chakra signatures of Madara, Hashirama and Arima.

“The three fools are up to something,” she muttered, her eyes narrowing in her own displeasure. The bright sunlight washing over her face only further fueled her hatred for mornings and waking up early. “It’s too early for this level of bullshit.”

-

Only darkness, Madara felt like his body rested deep in the ocean within depths that sunlight never reached. He found it hard to move anything as the only sensation now was a complete numbness through every nerve and cell of his body.

_So quiet. What happened?_

His sense of direction couldn’t tell him which way was up but a small thought in the back of his mind told him that it was of no concern now. The peacefulness in his mind closed his eyes and enjoyed the void for as long as he wanted to. The lack of surface or the thought of drowning never crossed his mind in the void of his sleep.

A weak humming began to get through the void and only so faint that he barely noticed it. The footsteps of light feet approached above and beneath him. He frowned as the absurdity over someone running in the ocean crossed his mind.

_Leave. I don´t want to deal with it._

Something else, a heavier set of steps and muffled voices of a child reached through the ocean of void. Madara didn’t want to leave this place, for the first time in ages there was nothing to disturb him and he just wanted to sink into it even deeper to get away from the outside world.

_Let the others deal with the problem. Let me sleep._

A faint light appeared far in the distance, like the sun over the ocean and he tried to raise his left arm to cover it up. The constant numbness reminded him of how futile that really was and he frowned as his eyes closed to counter it instead. Madara didn’t want to leave this blissful slumber and focused on his efforts to move himself away from it but that was just the same as to sink in quicksand. A very eerie feeling began to reach his senses as an iron cold grip got hold of one of his arms.

He had long memorized how the few people he trusted smelled and felt like, down to physical touches and their chakra signatures and and Sakuya was the one who gave more public forms of affection like hugs and casual touching in unthinking everyday actions. 

_It didn’t feel anything like her so who the hell is touching me?_

Madara tried to turn around or at least move his head so he could see it.

Nothing but darkness until a ray of light came shining down and illuminating a shard of the void to his left.

His dead brother with flesh rotting off his bones and long deceased, eyes white as milk and a smile that sent cold chills down the madman’s spine.

He panicked and immediately headed up towards the light. The many ghosts of his past in his current life and the previous life refused to let go and he screamed in the void. No words escaped his throat, only air bubbles…

The light hit his eyes.

Madara opened his eyes and stared up on a cracked and old ceiling while panting heavily. Sunlight, muffled by the constant blanket of white clouds, reached in through a window and over his face. The distant sounds of townspeople that argued about prices and their own problems mixed in with the background hum. His eyes flickered as he tried to understand where he was and how he got there. He didn’t bother with an attempt to speak as he still was a little dizzy from the whole thing.

_A nightmare… A really bad one to top it as well. Where am I?_

He clenched his hands, only to feel the soft linen and the dried animal skin over the feather stuffed mattress. An uneasy feeling still lingered in his body, numbness or soreness like one would get from running many miles at a high speed.

The sunlight stung his eyes and he tried to raise his arm to block it. It was a tremendous effort to do so. He felt weak like a newborn kitten as he had to give up for the moment. He turned his face away instead and tried to wake up properly.

_How did I get here? The last thing I remember was…_

A red flash and his eyes went wide open.

A fortress in the shape of a wheel, the red mist, the voices and images, asking the weird gray haired youth about what Sakuya was afflicted with during the assault on said fortress, _Arima…_.

A door opened in the room and Madara tilted his head at it slowly.

"It´s nice to see you up. I didn’t think you or the forest boy would be up so soon after experiencing a weaker version of the affliction that Sakuya-hime experienced the during the assault."

Arima, in the black and dark scarlet robe he preferred, walked in with two trays and sounded a little more positive than usual. 

Madara looked at him and waited for something while he clenched his hands. 

Arima approached him with a tray after putting the other on the table next to the tossing and turning Hashirama on a bed a few feet away. Once within range, Madara altered his eyes into the Mangekyou Sharingan he had acquired due to seeing his brother’s corpse and a arm reached out from beneath the sheets.

It grabbed around Arima´s neck and it was like every sound just dropped dead as Madara got into a sitting position. Arima looked down without a single indication of resistance or fear for that matter. The tray still rested in his hand and Arima asked in a causal tone as Madara stared at him with intense fury.

"Something wrong? And you should not attempt to use your bloodline limit in your current condition and present company." The grip around Arima´s throat didn’t ease up even if the limb began to shiver from the strain. Madara began to show the strain in his body as well as he tried to sit up in the bed. He looked furious and Arima continued like the hand around his neck simply was of no concern. "I guess you want some answers but please don´t strain yourself or I will be in trouble as a doctor."

"You…!"

Madara stooped as he managed to sit up and experienced soreness through his body. The pain was unwelcome and the hand began to shiver and threatened to strangle Arima by reflex.

Arima simply looked at him and spoke with a serious voice of pity. "That goes for sudden movements as well. Lean back and rest…"

Madara tried to form an angry expression but found it increasingly difficult. He felt so angry, so filled with blind hatred and regret and understanding for what she had allegedly went through both mentally and physically when Sakuya snapped.

Arima interrupted any attempts from him to speak. "Don´t get upset. Your wounds will open up again with too much movement right now, even with my expertise.” He looked at Madara with distaste as his full and lifeless gray eyes glanced at the pure white sheets beneath the Uchiha brat. “Be considerate and calm down before you stain my sheets with your blood once more.”

Madara breathed heavily and the grip began to loosen up a little but he refused to let go for a little longer. Arima looked down at the tray with a red liquid in a vial and some rice and fresh steamed fish and a glass of water, the food still hot and without a single drop of it spilled out from Madara´s action.

"The food will get cold soon and if you go on with your general actions then I will have to feed you it myself. Also, swallow the medicine all at once. Don’t linger on the taste."

Madara´s visage contorted in insult over the thought and swayed between the desires to swallow his pride and eat the me a or go starving but keep his dignity. The hand around Arima´s neck slowly let go. He leaned back down and glared at the seven year old nutjob for the treatment, not wishing for the so-called doctor´s actions go unpunished. 

Arima looked down without a change in behavior from the calm, uninterested serenity.

"I hope you don´t hold a grudge against me for everything I did, even if both you and Hashirama asked for this to understand her better, but I will still have to give you the food spoon by spoon."

Arima put down the tray and sounded like a nurse now as he tried to make things easier for his patient.

No response from Madara and Arima noticed how he tried to turn away from the rising sun. He rose up and used his right hand to cover it with a blanket as an improvised curtain.

"Sorry for that, but you two have been sleeping for so long that I didn’t think it would bother you."

"W-what?..."

"You have been sleeping for four days now but considering the circumstances then I guess it could be worse." Arima shrugged. “The experience Sakuya-hime went through is not suitable for those who can’t regenerate, and I have been forced to keep you both alive and prevent your bodies from breaking under the stress, however residual it was.”

Madara tried to get up again and only got another sting of sore pain as reward for such effort. He didn’t know what to believe. Arima stopped him a cold hand on his shoulder, and the gray eyes darted to

Hashirama who was slowly waking up as well. “I will tell you what it was now, and you can tell your…friend later or I can do it.”

Madara calmed down a little bit but with some defiance crossed his arms and glared. 

Arima put forth the truth, plain and simple since any lies would only upset Madara further and would harm his reputation if his actual patient was injured due to their emotions getting the better of them. "It was a psychological, emotional and physical unstable state called "Blood-Mist", and from how much chakra therapy and synchronization it took to stabilize you both, then I would say it was a pretty serious episode on your ends."

Madara looked up in horror as he tried to grasp it in denial. He couldn’t believe that Sakuya had went through this. To imagine that she entered such a state despite all that was a very unpleasant shock for him, but it also raised a second question that startled him even more.

_How am I even conscious? How are any of us sane?_

Madara looked at Arima who seemed to have been prepared for this for quite some time.

  
"Don´t think about it too much and don´t expect me to have an answer on that. It amazes me as well."

Madara blinked and Arima began to feed him the contents of the tray much to his horror. Madara really just wanted to spit the contents of the vial out when it passed through his lips. But he began to get used to it after the first five tastes.

_What is this?! It tastes and smells like someone melt down a boot and boiled it with a corrupt cadaver and a dash of blood and darkness._

The first gulp was the hardest to get down. The second tasted better and the third was almost sweet. By the fifth time it tasted like things completely different. 

Fire, and blood, darkness, death, cinnamon, dark forests, cherries, and the night. Smells and things that suited, soothed and pleased a part of him greatly.

He was instantly suspicious on what he just drank.

Arima chuckled darkly over the reaction seen on Madara’s changing emotions and expressions.

"I guess you never had some of her blood before. It always tastes bitter smells awful to the newcomer for the first time upon drinking it, but by the time the vial is empty, it tasted and smelled like the most favorite things or brings out old memories and helps sooth the drinker. Everyone has their own taste and scent...”

Madara immediately spit out the lingering blood in his mouth full and stared with eyes wide open in shock. Hashirama was choking on his bed, eyes frantic and after a moment he was forced to swallow the substance.

Neither paid attention to the Senju right then.

Arima brushed some of the blood spilled on his robes with a backhanded motion. He flicked the blood on his hands to the floor and snarled, knowing he would be forced to clean again shortly.

"That was unnecessary. Sakuya-hime willfully gave her blood so the healing and strengthening process is stronger than if it was taken by force with little to no after effects." Arima glared at them both, showing his own dislike for them and the disrespect for the gift she bestowed upon them. “You do her a great dishonor by acting this way.”

That didn’t make things better for Madara, but the options didn’t allow him to be picky.

"What is Blood Mist?” Hashirama asked, coughing every now and then as the rice caught in his own throat.

“It’s complicated, but I’m sure you both realize how dangerous it is now.” Arima narrowed his eyes at them both. “Don’t you?”

Madara didn’t need to speak or answer Arima now. That would be too much of an effort and the boy was clearly venting now.

Arima carried out the conversation between the three of them all on his own like they talked about something casual like the weather.

"I closed the clinic so there won´t be any patients today… or any home visits for that matter. Only for emergencies, or if Sakuya-hime drop in will I attend to them for now.” Arima noticed the two older boys were eating on their own, their strength returned with the consumption of the blood and smiled. The smile was dark and sadistic, but it was normal for his smiles and grins…like Kouzai or Sakuya as she insisted he call her had the similar grins and smiles when they were true and genuine. “If you feel for it then you can speak short sentences. You both need to recover every inch of strength you have after all."

 _And the sooner you are healthy, the sooner I can rinse your stench from my laboratory._ His smile reverted to a sneer for a moment before becoming blank like a featureless mask. _I really do not like humans. What does she see in them?_

  
Madara and Hashirama nodded and Arima started the lecture.

“Blood-Mist is a emotional, psychological, and physiological condition that allows Sakuya and those who have consumed or infused her blood and chakra into them to reach the peak of their abilities without any restrictions or fears. Strength, endurance, chakra, durability, agility, speed and anything else. All increased at the weakest amount of threefold for civilians or those with little chakra to tenfold or more for people like yourselves. The Blood Mist also gives specific abilities to the afflicted that is different for each individual. Anyone and everyone in a Blood Mist state effectively turns into a juggernaut of death and destruction, capable of killing thousands of men to keep the blood-mist active. The most common ability those in the Blood Mist state has is instant regeneration from any injuries that the person receives during this massacre. In a way, those who consume the blood get permanent benefits but when affected under the Blood Mist, they become exactly what the common folk paints us out to be… soulless evil monsters that only live to kill and defile things."

There was a long pause as Arima let the words sink in before continuing.

"But they don´t understand what it truly is or maybe they do but they simply don´t care. Blood Mist is our last resort and nothing we chose for ourselves. From the public opinion and their perspective we become stronger and faster, and we do, but in reality the only thing Blood-Mist does that is universal is to remove our sense of pain entirely. The reason we regenerate injuries almost immediately during this is our own bodies attempt to keep us alive. Our muscles strain, our tendons snap, our hearts beat as fast as a sparrows, and even our bones break constantly from the immense strain of constant swifts between human and altered forms. Without the sense of pain numbed, we would scream every single second of it and then there´s the other aspect of it that turns out into raving lunatics, craving blood and destruction. At least that is what happens to the civilians and people with low chakra."

Hashirama paled greatly, and looked horrified and sorrowful at the explanation so far.

Madara remembered the confusion in a short series of flashbacks, each one only a half second long.

_The screams, the faces…Izuna._

Arima continued the lecture without a hint of remorse or care toward them.

"The greatest fear anyone ever could imagine flooding our mind and our body at the same time. All our guilt, all our shame and all our darkest secrets… Everything played up like a nightmare in front of our very eyes and turns almost every single living creature into an enemy.” He shook his head dismissively. “It shouldn’t be considered strange that it happens like that since Blood-Mist doesn’t kick in unless we get pushed in a corner, forced beyond our limits and become unable to keep our urges in check with our human minds. We become our own inner demons and unleash the amplified pain within ourselves upon the world.” 

The gray haired and eyed boy tapped his chin in thought and after a few minutes of being quiet, tried to explain it in a different manner.

Arima walked over to a nearby bookshelf, grabbing down a very suspicious looking leather bound tome and returned next to Madara who had finished eating. The so-called doctor leafed through the pages and stopped near the beginning and began to read from the ancient pages.

“Blood Mist is the most prominent aspect that makes the life of Blessed, Cursed and/or Blood Touched being more difficult to adapt to ‘normal’ human society. It is a chemical disturbance in the brain triggered by an extreme trauma, causing them to go on a rampage. In this state, these individuals are ruled by their instincts for self-preservation and occasionally protecting others near and dear to them. Blood Mist usually begins with the world turning into a red-tinted, horror-filled version of reality, the red world, the boundary between the real world and the perceptions one might feel. Here, the person’s body goes into overdrive, and they begin a near mindless rampage. Everything, or almost everything, appears as dark shadows unique to each individual. Emotions run wild and temporary insanity ensues. Once they have been snapped out of blood mist, usually after all threats perceived or legitimate, they often experience suicidal tendencies depending on the state of mind.”

He flipped the page and read the pages aloud.

“Blood Mist is the result of extreme physical, mental and/or emotional trauma, when the conscious mind must shut down and all that is left is the unconscious mind/instincts. This can occur from extreme physical pain or deep emotional and mental trauma. The ability to willingly put oneself into this state of controllable Blood Mist is called Berserker Blood. A good many of Jashin’s priests or believers naturally have this trait. All of the possible physical, mental and emotional benefits from Blood Mist is greatly amplified during this ability. Their natural blood lust, craving for fighting, blood, destruction and death is also greatly amplified.”

Madara focused on the last part and recalled how she was rejecting damage faster than she had so far, moved faster, hit harder and was practically crowing with delight to hurt something.

_That was Berserker Blood then?_

Arima continued reading the notes, drawing the Uchiha out of his thoughts. “The world turns into a crimson red version with a landscape that's unique to their perception. Surrounded by pits of fire, in a frozen land of crystal or to live in what could only be described as a living nightmare, composed by the faces and screams of her victims. Some turn into shrieking maniacs craving only for blood and flesh while becoming juggernauts. Others are just as serene and calm, like they been before losing their minds. But some become suicidal and simply surrender to whomever that survives long enough to let the state pass by. The times people turns into unstoppable forces of nature, screaming and reliving their worst memories, are the times when Blood Mist is triggered by unforeseen emotional, mental and physical suffering that happens in quick succession and they are unable to adapt to it. If the person feels great guilt or deep depression at the time, they become suicidal. If they think there´s no life after their Blood Mist then it´s not strange how they might give up completely. Those which have many episodes of blood mist, controlled and accidental, are generally killed quickly due to the often mindless rampages and are considered mentally ill. An individual in Blood Mist can be calmed and returned to normal much more effectively by those they care for and love. In some cases, this is the only way to return a Blood Misting being to normal before they fully exhaust themselves into ending their own Blood Misting.”

  
Arima closed the book and had a smug, self satisfied glimmer in his relentless stare on both of them and then paused for a longer period of time now.

Madara tried to get up again and gave that attempt up as well.

Arima looked down and even sounded sad as he continued, "No one should have to be put through this, even if you both asked for this experience specifically. I’m sorry."

A confused look from Madara and Hashirama forced Arima looked directly at them now.

"Sakuya-hime entered the Blood Mist in an uncontrollable stage. That was foreseen long ago, and so we made sure she would survive. As for showing you both what this was like wasn’t needed for four days straight and forcing you to be bedridden.” He gave them a smile that was more dangerous than a mindfield. “I could have done it in a few hours. Tops. I just wanted to mess with you fools for endangering Sakuya-hime in your useless wars and disrespecting her.” Arima shrugged uncaringly. “And because I personally find it hilarious to see you both suffer.”

  
Madara flung out with his right arm and grabbed Arima´s neck again.

The tray fell out from Arima´s hand and the food and glass crashed down and its contents spilled out over the wooden floor. Arima didn’t struggle against it and just waited as the hand began to tighten and threaten to cut off air at any moment. 

Madara breathed heavily and shivered as to ignore the massive sore pain of the sudden movement. He bit his bottom lips and fought against it as he channeled more chakra throughout his body to counter the fatigue.

His fury poured out like water through a net.

Madara really felt like he really could just strangle Arima to death and had a much better reason to as well.

His voice might been weak but his words was just as furious like his Sharingan. “You bastard!”

Madara increased the pressure around the younger boy’s neck and his nails cut through the skin. He was furious and in his mind all he could think of was to inflict harm as he was betrayed and used like this.

_You won´t get away with this!_

Madara squeezed even harder even if it only made more damage to himself than on Arima.

Hashirama was looking like he was going to interfere, but he was too weak to get far. And he knew that.

The opportunity was right there.

The door that Arima closed after his entrance rattled with its handle and a third party began to open it.

"Excuse me… Arima, are you free?"

A sweet, curious voice he was all too familiar with echoed and he felt his anger and rage disappear into nothing, even as he tried to cling onto it with growing desperation.

Madara immediately stopped squeezing the boy’s throat and Arima turned his head at the door before Sakuya could enter.

"You can stay where you are, Sakuya-hime. I used a lot of medical ninjutsu fairly recently, and I don’t want it to accidentally hurt you. Did you want something?"

Sakuya stopped and none of the trio could see the girl from the door opening. Sakuya sounded a little concerned.

"Is Maddie-hime and Hashi-washi awake yet?"

Madara flinched at the nickname and ignored the Senju chuckling on it until he learned of the nickname he was given by her. Hashirama pouted greatly at his own nickname.

Arima´s reply was kept short and surprisingly professional yet highly respectful despite the chokehold he was in. "Yes, they are awake now."

Sakuya clapped her hands, excited as hell and even her voice was higher pitched and more childish than normal. "Really!? Can I talk with them?!"

"Not now. They can barely speak. I will tell you when you can enter this room."

Sakuya, who stopped in the middle of her attempt to enter, sounded a little disappointed by the denial.

"I see," she whispered. The raw sadness and profound disappointment was evident in her tone and chakra.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Sakuya-hime. How´s the letter writing going?"

“Finished and had Tobirama and Izuna send the ones meant for their specific clans last night…early today rather.” She said, her voice returning to the more mature, highly educated mannerisms that was definitely not childish in the least. “I don’t know how they will work until they return, but Madara, Tobirama, Izuna and Hashirama should still be here with their services and roles. They will remain by my side at least…as will you Arima.”

Madara eased his grip as he was reminded of what was at stake right now. And at present, the trust and love and the right to be near her was at stake. And he wasn’t going to leave Hashirama and Tobirama and the like to remain near her without him watching or making sure things were alright.

He looked at Arima who continued to keep Sakuya out from the drama that took place.

"Wait for me in the Great Hall in Amachi’s sector. I will be there shortly. We will go over the speech you will be giving the masses around noon. After the rehearsal we will get some breakfast and then you can bath and change for the ceremony and speech.”

Her voice became petulant and annoyed. “Do I have to wear that kimono and be all dolled up?”

“It will reinforce the image they have of you in their minds and legends. After today, and except for formal events and the like, you can wear more mundane and everyday clothes.”

“Fine.” She sounded a little happier and left in a rush down the hallways with a childish enthusiasm.

Arima sighed and noticed how Madara’s hold on his throat was gone and his arm was resting on the blankets. 

Madara laid there on his side and seemed a little ashamed of himself. The sudden cold in the room didn’t bother him and he seemed to remain in heavy thoughts for the time being.

Hashirama was much the same way.

"I see that she still holds great influence over you. Don’t be ashamed. Many people even upon your level of prowess are swayed by her," Arima said casually and rubbed his throat in a detached manner. “Many have fallen for her powers, charms, blessings, or looks in the past so seeing people swayed to her tune is nothing new.”

Arima didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes after that as Madara looked back at him as he demanded to know what he meant. 

Something went on outside in Hinoiri and got Arima´s attention.

A deep sigh and Arima left the room instead in complete silence, only when he was about to close the door behind him did he speak. "I have overstayed my visit here. Rest and we will talk some more later today when I bring you more food."

"You…said…"

Arima glanced at Hashirama who had spoke up, his voice cracking from the soreness of the screaming during their ‘slumber’ and said nothing.

He then closed the door behind him and left.

Madara looked up at the ceiling and turned over on his back once again. After a number of attempts he finally got the sheets to cover his body again and he tried to think. 

_I’ve got a really good feeling something terrible is about to occur._

Hashirama must had had similar premonitions since he said after laying down, “I don’t know what’s happening but I get the feeling I should be afraid.”

“That’s a good start,” Madara stated with a small nod of his head.

_A very good start._

_Here’s hoping everything doesn’t burst into flames randomly or something worst occurs._


	13. A Child Shall Lead Them

The hour of her speech, of her first official meeting with the populace of the capital known as Hinoiri, had finally arrived and she was finishing up dressing up in an elaborate seven layer kimono.

The first layer was the Nagajuban, or a white kimono shaped robe. Due to the collar being showed underneath the kimono itself, so the collar was replaced with a deep red near wine red or maroon one so it would contrast with the rest of the outfit. 

Datejime, an undersash used to tie the Nagajuban was the second layer. As it was hidden under the kimono, it was very decorative. Her’s was black with golden butterflies and red spider lilies.

Kimono was the outer layer of silk robe that's visible to the world. Long swinging sleeves belonging to the Furisode type of kimono were filled with cherry blossom motifs. The sleeves were detached and tied on, separate from the main white kimono. Near the waist of the kimono was swirls of dark red that looked like blood.

The Obi, the forth layer, was put in a large bow, the red silk with lines and criss-cross design at the edges was lightweight and wide.

Hakama, a divided pant or skirt that resembled a wide pair of trousers was tied over the kimono at the waist. It is typically is pleated and fastened by ribbons, tied around the waist over the obi. The one she chose was identical to the dark red hakama that miko, or shrine maidens, wore back in her original life.

The irony of wearing miko clothing while assumingly a goddess was not lost on her.

White tabi socks, or a foot-shaped non-elastic sock with buckles on the back, and black fabric zori, or flip-flop like sandals, which had brocaded pink blossoms and red spider lilies.

Along with those, there was more details added to the outfit.

A string was tied around the obi and through the knot and doubles as decoration. Her’s was cordlike with dark purple tassels, meaning it was more festive and formal than normal, but there was small shimmering golden disks fastened to the string and hanged around her waist. A fox mask was attached to the strings on one of her hips and there was an scarf like piece of fabric underneath the obi and hanged down. It was the same color as the tassels.

There was a dark red umbrella to shield her skin from the sun and a light pink paper fan with a cherry blossom motifs.

Once the clothing was put on, and she saw herself in the mirror Sakuya was stunned.

_Arima really did good work._

The older boy was attempting to tame her wild hair and with great patience managed to do so. Pulled mostly into two buns with red flowers woven into them, two large golden bells with long tassels were put into her hair as well right below the twin buns. The rest of her hair fell down her shoulders and back to form loops.

Despite all his hard work, there were several strands standing on top of her head to spite him.

“The speech is unnecessary, but your kindness for even making such steps for the likes of these is remarkable, Sakuya-hime.”

Sakuya sighed at hearing Arima still call her that. It was better than outright calling her goddess or Sakuya-sama, but not by much.

She wanted to make friends and have equals, but that won’t work out in this world either it seems.

“It is always nice to have a backup plan should my current schemes backfire,” she said simply.

Arima finished with her hair and helped her out of the seat, handing her the fan. The umbrella was seen as unneeded, but he would carry it while he attended her during the speech. “They worship and revere you as both a negative and positive force in the world and their everyday lives, the darkness and light embodied… Anything you say is righteous and you do not need to prove yourself.”

“Thank you Arima,” Sakuya whispered shyly. It was genuine thanks, feeling better at someone else having confidence in her.

-

  
Outside, a crowd had gathered on each side of the street as they left the road clear and watched in worried awe. 

Hisato covered up his distinctive red hair and clothing with a heavy mantle and kept the hood up as he decided to check on his daughter while incognito. As added insurance, he had henged his appearance into a brown haired and eyed young man and nobody who saw him now would ever believe he was an Uzumaki or a ‘traitor’ or criminal.

Things had been too smooth around in Hinoiri and not a single word had been mentioned about the events that took place on that doomed night.

The public had learned the truth, or some exaggeration of it, and Hisato was surprised that there was no uprising of the public. He looked around him at the wreckage and the praying and healthy masses who were so pleased that something happened that he had a bad feeling about where this could go. 

Rumors had begun to spread around Hinoiri and beyond it quite quickly, over the disappearances of thousands of soldiers and other servants and a loud sound the night of the deed.

Some people have thought it to be a shriek or a faint scream. 

Hisato suspected who was responsible for the scream and lamented the fact that his daughter was harmed and suffered to the point of awakening the Sharingan, or so he heard by Izuna. That particular rumor, the ungodly screams and shrieks, had gotten out but only remained as unconfirmed rumors by now, one that had grown over the last couple of days as families still waited for their family members to come home from the fortress.

_What´s this about?_

Hisato joined in with the crowds and managed to catch glimpses of the reason.

He frowned in deep horrific shock over the sight of dozens and dozens of dark dressed men and women that headed to the Fortress, all of them with dark rags over their faces and dressed in lightweight black robes to isolate them from the stares of the masses and the unaccustomed heat for them. Horses that pulled several heavy wagons from the fortress appeared along with a second trail of dark clothed men that lead them. Each wagon was covered in animal hides to conceal the contents.

The crowds wondered out loud while they whispered and kept their voices down to not attract unwanted attention from the black dressed people.

  
"Why are they here?"

"Never seen this many of them before…"

"What´s going on?"

“Is this about Sakuya-hime?”

Hisato, who overheard some of the gossip thought with great concern himself.

_Why is the Research Division here? This city might have tolerance to non-humans but why would they send these guys here? Unless of course…_

  
Hisato sniffed the air and he noticed the smell that everyone there could detect but few would know what it was. Years of dealing with injuries and tending to the dead gave him an expertise for this kind of scent.

  
Dried blood, week old corpses, and stiffed flesh mixed with something that made it foul, something that came from the covered wagons and made the air almost too thick for Hisato to inhale.

_They’re here for the corpses of humans and corrupt ones who were killed a week back but who alerted them? It takes three weeks minimum for a messenger to reach that region from here and it takes even more time to send this many of the Research Division to this location as well. So who sent for them?_

  
A couple of messengers began to make themselves heard over the murmur. Judging from the clean clothes one would guess that they worked for the Fellowship….or his daughter now Hisato supposed.

"Everyone! Heed this! There will be an announcement from the most honorable and heavenly Kouzai-sama! Everyone´s presence is vital! All gather in front of the main gate at high noon! This is the order of Sakuya!"

The crowd began to look at each other as the hour in question would occur soon enough. Hisato turned his head in mixed concern and interest. He decided to follow the crowd to see what this all was about.

-

Within a small tavern and inside a single room rented by its two occupants, two of the other survivors of that night were dispassionately watching the scene unfold.

Hone looked outside the window, his thoughts were in disarray and every time he tried to think would only cause in a headache. There was something outside that got the attention of the people and he was a little curious over it.

"Hey, Ikune?"

The helmeted corrupted being turned his head back and noticed that his roommate finished the preparations to leave Hinoiri.

"What do you think?"

Ikune didn’t answer at first and it had Hone a little concerned as well. There hadn’t been a word from Ikune the last week and he knew that wasn’t a good sign. He assumed that it was because of the failure of their mission and the death of her brother and his boss, but he wasn’t about to ask.

"Hey, Ikune? You really shouldn’t keep your emotions under lock and key,” Hone said. “Look at the ninja and you can see how that works.”

No answer and Hone tried to change the topic to a jollier one, anything to pull Ikune out from her deep dark place.

"I wonder if that girl who killed the boss is really Hikari reborn? What was her name again? Oh right… Sakuya, wasn’t it?"

The search for confirmation was an obvious hook and much to Hone´s annoyance the bait wasn’t swallowed. Ikune didn’t say a word and Hone could tell from her aura that she wasn’t in a conversation with the others either.

He tried again.

"I don´t get it. The last couple of days you have only reported back to the others, and whenever you don´t, you just sit there and think. What´s the matter? Is it because we failed our mission and were destroyed down to the two of us?"

No reply and Hone began to reach his own conclusions as he rubbed his sore neck.

"Well, if you want then we can go back in there again and finish the job. Kill that damned brat too."

He was interrupted by a especially loud messenger that passed right outside the tavern and made the official announcement.

"Citizens of Hinoiri! Please attend outside the main gates to the Fortress at high noon! Kouzai reborn, Sakuya-hime will announce something of dire nature!"

Hone chuckled at the luck. “What luck this is! Maybe we can find a weakness within her.”

Ikune looked up a little bit by the mentioning of a weakness for a god, and she then looked down in a deep sigh. She reached a conclusion after a little fumbling with her left hand´s fingers and turned towards the door.

"Come on Hone. We might as well see what this is all about."

Hone looked rather surprised over the sudden action but welcomed it with open arms; after all, they had to hide in this room since the night of massacre to avoid further suspicion. A trip outside might be exactly what they both needed. 

"Can we enter a couple of stores on the way? I have considered buying a flute and learn how to play it."

Ikune spent exactly ten seconds on the picture with Hone and his attempts to learn a music instrument the last time. She quickly discouraged it as they left the tavern incognito.

It would soon be noon.

-

The people gathered outside the main gates in thousands as the space had been prepared for this event the last couple of days. An elevated platform, recently built, stood in front of the main gates and a podium with several hollow horns that would increase the volume of the speaker´s voice and send it all over Hinoiri.

A barricade separated the crowd from the podium and the people had gathered there to hear this out. Some of them muttered as no official from the Fortress had appeared to explain the odd things that the people had caught up in mere rumors. They wanted to know why Sakuya hadn’t spoken up this far and noon would be upon them soon.

Hisato stood among the crowd, close to one of the back alleys and didn’t need to stand right among them. He still had some issues with this many people at once, especially now that all of them had chakra on the level of jonin at the very least, and he preferred to stay in the edges where he could vanish back into the back alleys with ease. He was too curious about the whole thing and his enhanced senses would allow him to hear everything like he stood on the front line.

There was something off with all of this, but he couldn’t put the finger on what.

Far from his position, Hone and Ikune stood together and watched among the others in the crowd, unarmed and incognito. Ikune chewed on a piece of dried meat she bought earlier and Hone waited patiently for the announcement, all to pay his respects to the ones she suspected would be involved in this.

Noon approached and a number of green clothed medic ninja exited the front gate as a personal escort to the young child in the center, a young girl in elegant yet simple kimono and recognized by the people as the latest physical form of their so-called deity.

_Sakuya…_

She walked up the stairs to the small stage and issued her orders to the green clothed people to remain off it at all times. Beside her and a few steps back was a gray haired and eyed individual wearing a black kimono with red petal motif and a dark scarlet obi. Everybody was surprised to see her at all since she had yet to formally show herself since it was confirmed she was the reason the rumored crimes of the families were finally revealed. 

They all fell silent as she managed to capture their interest by her appearance there alone.

Hisato found this odd and felt this was almost out of place. Seeing his little girl all dressed up and properly conducting a formal ceremony and meeting, of being elegant and mature despite her tender age, was upsetting to see as a father.

Images of one day being forced to marry her off, of giving away his precious daughter to anything, and the likelihood of people attempting some alliance building marriage now that he status was known filled him with rage.

 _I will need to inform Madara about this and problem solve how to avoid that with him soon._  
Sakuya coughed discretely into her elongated kimono sleeves and began to speak as the hollow horns sent her voice over Hinoiri.

  
"Citizens of Hinoiri, dignitaries of foreign rulers and my own inherited regions and rules, aides to daimyos and feudal rulers, followers of mine, and visitors to this fare, though long troubled, capital…” She looked around the crowd and smiled lovingly at them. It was his own smile, so it was more serial killer like, but the thought counted and the people weren’t phased or had issues with that. “I have gathered you all here today because this matter concerns you all."

-

In the clinic that connected to the rest of the city, Madara looked up and began to wonder about the announcement that rallied the citizens outside. It spread around in the alleys and every person that heard it began to chatter and murmur over the reasons behind such a statement. He didn’t care for the moment though, since he had greater concerns then what the common man did outside. 

Four days. I can´t believe it. Guess I should be grateful to even be alive right now, he thought to himself instead as he tried to grasp the situation.

Hashirama was sleeping peacefully and he snorted at how carefree the Senju was.

 _We still need to talk about the reveal of each others clans,_ Madara thought sourly. _At least this time it didn’t turn into a battle when we were ‘caught’ knowing the other._

It pained him to rely on others, but he could only hope Sakuya had some scheme to keep this from escalating.

Not even a full minutes contemplation of how badly she could screw things up or how good she could salvage things made him feel like his luck was turning.

-

At the podium, Sakuya continued her speech to the people with a grim and devastated voice.

  
"I´m sure that you all have heard about the rumors and the strange incidents that occurred in the fortress one week ago. I have also heard the pleas from the faithful family members that asked why their husbands, friends, brothers, sisters, wives and other loved ones haven´t come home yet. I have come forward to answer all your questions at this hour but there´s something you need to know."

Sakuya took a short pause and then spoke with a sad tone.

"One week ago, all nine families had their crimes going back over five hundred years revealed. Including the murder of my previous incarnation and the setting up of the Temple of the Great One who uses the brain dead and soulless unaging body of my previous incarnation for it’s blessings, curses and blood ministrations.”

She was all in for working this god angle, and no one could say she wasn't...

  
Complete silence accompanied by shocked expressions and gaping mouths followed her sorrowful words. Nobody said a single word as everyone was taken by surprise and the mere idea of what Sakuya said was too much to comprehend. 

Hisato himself was greatly shocked over the news but hid it a lot better than most of the crowd did.

“Lord Kimura and his entire bloodline were killed in cold blood." 

Hone and Ikune weren’t so surprised by that news. They had sensed the damned god’s minions in that area and came to the conclusion that Kimura had been killed by them.

Sakuya sighed, deep guilt settling down on her childish features as she continued…

“And that´s not all… Lady Sagawa was also found dead, killed in a puddle of her own blood."

That came as a surprise for both Hone and Ikune. 

The crowd began to murmur but was silenced by Sakuya’s strong and resolute voice.

"It has also been confirmed that Lord Miyake, Lord Kudou, Lord Gato, Lord Amachi, Lady Fukumoto, Lord Asaka, and Lord Chiura have been killed as well along with their bloodlines and their reign has thereby ended."

The people just listened in utter stunned awe now as they never had expected this to happen. Hisato, Hone and Ikune just listened in great shock.

Sakuya’s voice echoed all over the concerned parts of Hinoiri as she spoke. It wasn’t over yet.

  
The crowd began to yell out their confusion and questions at Sakuya who patiently waited for them.

"How did this happen?!"

"Why did they kill you?!”

“How were they killed?

"Tell us!"

Sakuya remained calm and raised a single hand and the crowd silenced at once. She still sounded devastated but slowly increased the strength in her voice as the speech headed in a different direction.

"Why you ask. I asked myself the same thing. Who could be so cruel that the deaths of your friends and family wouldn’t matter? Who would even be capable to perform such an inhuman act and engage in this massacre that now brought so much pain to our hearts? You ask who? Then I will tell you who! The one who killed the soldiers of the Fellowship, the ones who massacred the Fellowship, the one who slaughtered family and servants that simply worked to earn ryo just so their families wouldn’t go hungry… The one responsible for all this suffering and pain…"

She took a deep breath as her voice became ever more angry and agitated. The crowd sipped in on every word like greedy cats around a bowl of milk. The men of the crowd began to get rallied up as well as they desired vengeance for their fallen friends and brothers. 

Sakuya inhaled and then bellowed the next sentence out in an open accusation. "WAS THE TEMPLE OF THE GREAT ONE AND THE FELLOWSHIP THEMSELVES!” 

The crowd once again silenced for a short moment and then the word began to spread among them with increase danger and hate.

"What? The Fellowship and the Temple did it?!"

“A conspiracy for centuries?

“One of the Families killed my brother and father?”

“My dear Ashitaka! Killed by those he served?!”

Sakuya resumed control over the crowd as she spoke loudly and her voice carried, blocking out the multitude of others as to get their attention back. Her voice was anything but weak. The change was as magnificent as she gestured and spoke with such controlled force that the people began to rally up under her more than ever before.

“YES! For five hundred years the Temple of the Great One and the Fellowship have ruled over the common man, separating the ninja, civilian, noble and samurai classes further with every day that passes. For over five hundred years I had ruled over all on this earth and brought an era of advancement, faith, peace, prosperity and tranquility to the warring world and families. At the height of my rule, I was betrayed by those I trusted and loved the most and my mind and essence was separated from my body. Gone were the days of limitless blessings, of blood ministrations without issue, of self-improvement and understanding. In it’s place was the faulty blessings and blood infusions by the new Temple who used my body as mere resources and defiled my legacy and name while using it at the same time for their own profit!”

The crowd began to rally up now as echoed her sentiments in her outburst of anger and wounded rage.

“The Fellowship were not any better. I have spent the last week going over all their records I could find and the known crimes of an single bloodline is absolutely mind-boggling. Hell, the last generation was the epitome of their centuries of self-love, selfishness, greed, lust and showed how little they thought of their subjects and this world.”

The boy next to her began to read from a scroll the list of crimes.

“Lord Miyake: savior of women. Raped over five hundred known individuals, often many times over before discarding. Had about two hundred illegitimate offspring of said unions with most being killed in the wilds, discarded, or sold into slavery. Even ninja clans and other noble families were not except from his lust for three of the children were from promenient clans. The deceased Kurumi Uchiha is the known one, but there were two, long deceased, children from a Hyuuga of the branch family.”

Hisato grimaced. _Tajima was not going to like this._

“Lady Sagawa: saint of the orphans. She used the orphans from civilians, ninja clans, and samurai families, for a blood bath to keep her skin healthy. She had a disease where her skin rotted away in the sunlight and only the blood of children between the ages of five to fifteen could heal her wounds. With an estimated ten sacrifices to her vain beauty a month, and going on for thirty years, she has the minimum personal death toll of three thousand, six hundred children lost to her obsession.”

Hisato noticed how Sakuya turned her head sideways and discretely rubbed her eyes with the sleeves while the other crimes were described in grand detail. They were a fainter red than normal, and he swore he saw at least two tomoe in the eye that was gauging the crowd’s reactions.

  
 _Ah,_ he thought sadly. _That is how she acquired the Sharingan._

  
When the crimes of the current generation had been finally outlined and broken down, the crowd was on their knees thanking and blessing her name.

“Since it’s creation, the Fellowship with it’s nine families have been working against each other. Nearly a million times in their five hundred year history, had the risk of turning this small feud into a full-blown civil war and bloody the lands to get all the power from the others. They even turned two of my most favored clans of ninja against each other from the beginning, and even now the Uchiha and Senju fight each other mindlessly, forgetting why they do so and are hired by the families to be used against each other. Three used the Senju clan, three used the Uchiha, and three used every other clan or family. This ensured that the ninjas were too busy to deal with the injustices of the world and of their own clans, spreading the hatred until it boils in their veins and they couldn’t do or dream of anything but to slaughter the other.”

Sakuya had managed to put them under her speech and they screamed for retribution over their losses. She continued with such flame and fury that the crowds fell silent to hear her thunder out her voice over them.

"We can never forgive such a evil act! This disrespect for human nature. The daimyo’s and the rulers of each country had long since withdrawn from serving the people, leaving the issues of the masses to these nine families and we all know how that worked out. They are leader in name only, and I have inherited the unwanted crown from the nine families and will serve to make this world better by any and all means necessary. No longer will you go hungry mere feet from nobles or those who can provide. No longer will you bury your loved ones lost to lack of shelter or clothing or sickness which could have been easily cured. No longer will you be paid a few ryo for backbreaking work. Slavery will be abolished in my lands and territories, and I will do I everything with my considerable power to better this world.” Her voice became calm and serene, softer and inquisitive as she continued. “I ask for you to put aside your anger, your hatred and to sheath your claws and fangs. Show the world we are peaceful, and only when we must will we bare our true nature and strike back to defend ourselves. This and every territory and land of mine will be open to all regardless from clans, allegiances, lineages and other factors. It is neutral and will be a place for everyone to come together peacefully when I get things in order. Now… Will we allow ourselves to be misled, to be captured and lied to so blindly ever again?”

"NOOOOO!"

The crowd bellowed in determination as one and even the children joined in as tears flowed down their face. The level of hate that once spread among the crowd like a forest fire was doused out and they became ever more devout to her beliefs and her words, dancing to her tune.

Hisato could just stare as he had no idea that his beloved daughter was such a good preacher. 

The mood went from being so heavy and deep that it was almost hard to breathe there; the agitation was so intoxicating like they inhaled fumes of wine made from grapes of wrath, to light and peaceful and carefree like he was breathing fresh mountain air after choking on toxic gases for years. 

It was almost frightening how well she was able change the feelings of others so easily after nearly spurning them into mindless violence.

Sakuya talked away and had every single being in the crowd on her side now and hanging onto every word. She lowered her voice to a intimate and confiding level to build up the relationship between them all.

Her voice was softer, still carrying through the horns and along the wind, and it was warm and inviting..

"Well said, and don´t despair! I will do everything in my power to make up for my unexpected absence and make this world better than it was during my first rule! But I´m merely one person and can´t do it alone and that´s why I request your assistance in this matter! And I´m not asking you to go out and attack others for me, or avoid and blame the Temple of the Great One for what they have done to me and the world. They will be punished in due time and only further misery would occur and our grief would increase even further if I heard that more of my beloved friends and followers had fallen victim to these beings due to my selfish desire. It is better to try and befriend such problem causing factors so we could limit the chance of further rebellion, and I do want to get along with all.” She lowered her head in a deep bow and a loud gasp echoed over the group at the deference and care she was showing them.

No noble did that, or considered that. For a small child to do it when their rulers failed was humbling and shocking.

“I beg you all, help me rebuild this world starting with this capital. This capital has been defiled and corrupted, and I will be rebuilding it and helping you all move. We will be improving farming, craftmanship, trading, and mining among other things and we will become the center of the world.”

She lifted her head, a determined, resolute expression on her face. “I swear it to you now, I will not let you fall. I will not let the corrupted beings that are mindless and tear into humans, devour your animals and loved ones. I will be teaching you how to use your new energy, your chakra, to defend yourselves and use it in everyday life. You will be my first blessed followers and friends, so stand up and do not bow. Just because I walk among you, I do not demand mindless subservience or worshiping. I want you to use your minds, to think, and I want to hear from what you say from now on. The Fortress, or the wheel part of it, will always be open to you all my beloved companions!”

  
The crowd went wild. Every single citizen of Hinoiri joined in, everyone with a voice, everyone who lost a family member to something that could have been avoided if those in charged even attempted to care.

And even those that weren’t affected by this got pulled in by the sheer enthusiasm in Sakuya’s words.

  
Ikune looked around and even noticed some of the sane corrupted beings who craved human flesh and the like and were in a disguise had joined into this as well, completely confident in their abilities to remain incognito. She began to wonder if she really should linger for here for any longer and began to back away..

_We should get out of here. Now. I have to tell the Temple about this development._

The people began to chant in full conviction and strength now.

"ALL HAIL SAKUYA!"

And the crowd cheered like there was no tomorrow. 

All the grief was replaced with relief, happiness and fanatic joy. 

The death of the Fellowship was witnessed as a miracle as they now had a leader that cared about the people. 

They later accepted her as the single ruler as she would stop at nothing to ensure the safety of the people. 

Couriers got sent to every major city as they carried copies of the speech to be announced by people chosen by Sakuya and her inner circle. 

Everyone cheered her on as the Fortress now became a symbol of hope and justice to them, a way out from the terror of the uncertain world around them and they all headed there.

-

  
Ikune and Hone left as the crowd cheered the young girl on.

"I guess our job is done. So we will head back to the Temple now? Or do we kill Sakuya right now?" . Hone asked with a relaxed tone as he nearly joined in on the cheers himself.

He hated the kid, but he had to admit she knew how to move a crowd.

"Hone, did losing your boss and companions cause your intelligence and insight to vanish?"

"What do you mean? Isn’t this the result we wanted?"

Ikune spoke with a voice of devoid of joy. Only raw anger as she replied, "This is the worst case scenario. The human nobles might have died, but instead we made the situation far worse for us!"

"How?"

"Instead of a number of greedy factions that argued and never could decide anything, we instead have a single leader controlling the world for all intents and purposes that with all probability will encourage the belief that she is Kouzai reborn! We just created a potential TYRANT, Hone! That´s how bad it is and that´s not even the worst part!"

They had left the crowd and tried to not attract attention to themselves. Hone still hadn’t figured it out yet as he asked with a puzzled expression. "She said that he would support the Temple of the Great One and that she wouldn’t attack us or hold us in a negative light! She even asked her followers not to do so either! How´s that the worst case scenario?"

"Sakuya said she wouldn’t let mindless corrupt beings or those that consume the flesh of humans affect her followers. The act itself isn’t as bad but if she gets support from the entire world and the leaders of the countries and get support from the various ninja clans… then that will become a problem to us."

"How?"

Ikune turned on the spot and pulled Hone in a back alley as she pushed him back first against the cold wall. She didn’t speak but her eyes contained a serious tone that began to frighten Hone.

She exhaled and never let go of her stoic expression but she looked a little desperate now. The cheers of the crowds continued and she spoke with greater distress. "Hone, what do you think will happen if the world finds out that those who take the blood ministrations or stolen blessings by the Temple of the Great One tend to become corrupt beings!?"

A light of great insight struck Hone as he spoke out loud with such horror and shock that it nearly mimicked Ikune´s own expression. "Oh shit."

  
"Exactly! Sakuya might mean well but by turning every single cannibalistic or mindless corrupt being into public enemy number one, she also made us the threats! Sure she likely didn’t know it but still! That´s why we were supposed to kill each and every single one of them and not allow any one to appear in the vacuum of power it would cause! So something like this wouldn’t happen! And by the death of the nine families and being the deity to the masses, the damned girl also received centuries of resources and rights to all the operations from trading, politics, mining, crafting, farming, and their riches they acquired. In less than a handful of hours, Sakuya had become the richest and most influential person on this thrice damned planet!” Ikune screamed for a moment in frustration before stifling the growing panic under a stoic mask. “And to make this even worse… it might be fine now but once the public learns about the true nature of the Temple of the Great One then we will all be targeted. We won´t be able to build a new home base anywhere else in this world when that happens and as long Sakuya or Kouzai exists…"

  
"Then why don´t we just wait until tonight and kill her?"

  
"WE CAN`T! After that performance she will probably surround herself with bodyguards. She also has the people on her side now and they would probably report any suspicious behavior now. They are out for blood and we will definitely be hanged or worse for this. And even if we somehow manage to pull it off, the hunt wouldn’t stop as the people would see this as the ultimate proof that our cause is evil. Sakuya’s death won´t stop it. We only had one chance to pull this off and we BLEW IT!"

Ikune let go of Hone´s shoulders and panted heavily from the small strain it had been on her. 

Hone had never heard Ikune so angry before in his entire life and realized how serious the situation now had became. "So what do we do now?"

Ikune sighed and looked directly at Hone now. "We head back to the Temple of the Great One in the Land of Lightning and tell them everything that happened here."

"Okay. I´m willing to accept any punishment for my actions."

"What did you say?"

"Ikune, I might be simple-minded now due to grief but I´m at least partly aware that it was my fault everything failed. I don´t want you to get punished for something I screwed up with so please let me take responsibility for this whole mess."

Ikune gave him a long look and then bowed her head down. He was serious about it and waited for an answer from her. 

Nothing came and instead Ikune spoke with a slightly forgiving tone.

"Don´t do this to yourself Hone. It was just as much my fault the mission failed and we in the Fanatics never punish each other for something like this. We were unlucky and we both will have to take this up with the head priest and the others. I´m sorry that I yelled at you but I have been through a lot lately and needed time to grieve, but we need to get out of here now.”

Hone sighed in relief and they left the city of Hinoiri an hour later. They headed back to the Land of Earth as fast as they could, hidden in the shadows of the crowds on their way out.

-

Hisato returned to the Uchiha clan at a rapid speed, his mind whirling with ideas and thoughts on what happened.

-

Sakuya relaxed shortly after it the speech was completed and she had roughly went over what she was going to do for the people. Farming, building, mining, trading, politics and so much more had been summarized and most of the people were hanging on her words like she was the breath they needed.

She didn’t know if she had controlled them, they were that desperate, or whatever but she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

The white girl changed into a white shirt and gray shorts the second she could, putting the elaborate kimono and goods away with proper care and flopped down on the bed.

The scent of death and blood embedded into the mattress had become oddly comforting over the week of using it, and she breathed deeply, relaxing further.

The door opened and her gaze flickered over to Arima Chinoike who was smiling faintly with a dark gleam in his eyes, before returning to staring at the ceiling.

“How did I do?”

“I’m certain your words touched their hearts, Sakuya-hime. But there is no need to shed tears for them.”

She frowned for a moment before sitting up, her hands bracing her up. She stared at the young boy and his gaze was warmer than she remembered in the past week.

“Will you help me with finding ways to take down the Temple? I want to protect these helpless people.”

Her smile became darker, though she did not know it.

“Tell me what to do,” Arima said, and abruptly dropped to his knees. “Give me your wish, give me your desire, give me an order, give me something. Please, anything. Let me prove my loyalty. Let me show you how good I can be for you. Please.”

Her smile froze as confusion seeped into her and nestled deeply into her very bones. “Are you okay, Arima?”

For a moment, he looked completely different… Should I be worried?

“I am fine.”

“Then stand up and inform me everything you know about the Temple and the politics of the common people. After that, give Madara and Hashirama a checkup and some food.”

“Understood, Sakuya-hime.”

-

Madara frowned deeply, going over how quickly things had escalated.

The sound of the door opening brought his attention to the crazy young boy standing ominously at the entrance.

A swift object struck him in the stomach and caused him to groan. The speed and force for the attack on Hashirama forced him out of the bed, and the Senju collapsed on the floor.

Madara rubbed where he was hit and saw a rock solid hunk of bread that was mildewing.

“I was told to check on you both and give you food. You both seem able to move by now so eat,” Arima said in an emotionless tone.

“We can’t eat this!” Hashirama said, smiling sheepishly and standing up off the ground with some careful movements.

“Then starve.”

And with that Arima left the two patients and Madara had no idea what the hell just happened.


	14. Sadistic Choice

Things were progressing nicely.

  
With Hashirama’s help and input, the building of a new city to the south of the original location in central to southern Land of Fire and reaching toward the coastline near the Land of Water was complete within a week. 

A mixture of stone, metal and wood and fashioned in very modern buildings and traditional housing another giant wheel or Fortress 2.0 was designed in the center.

The Fortress was completely opened to the public along with the shrine and temple that one had to pass through to enter the forest separating the sections. On the other side of the Fortress in a walled off section was a huge complex filled with personal houses, sectors, buildings and the like that served as the permanent seat of governance and living quarters for Sakuya and her inner circle. The palace in the back, cut off by immaculate gardens and harmonious ponds with small sparse trees and sections of forest was something straight out of feudal Japan but heavily updated for all modern conveniences and was changed to include multiple floors, exits and a few balconies since she liked them.

That was where she would personally call home, along with her most trusted companions…and her harem.

If Jazz music was playing, Sakuya was sure it had stopped when Hashirama learned about the elaborate relaxation wings alleged purpose.

Sakuya chuckled the sound carrying over the breeze from the sea and she leaned upon the railing of her main bedroom balcony, overlooking the forests and the sprawling city where people were starting to move into.

The memory of that moment played out in her mind again.

“Wait, what’s a harem?”

“I have little interest in the traditional and historical application, and it would completely go over your head, love.” She said at the innocent question. “Instead, I will say that those who live there will have an polygamous relationships characterized by a protagonist surrounded amorously by three or more members of either the same and/or opposing gender, sex, and/or love interests.”

Hashirama blinked repeatedly at her answer causing her to face palm.

“It is where people who might become interested in me or others can live and stay. While intimacy will be common, it is never necessary and nothing will be forced. I want their real emotions and feelings, and

will never force anyone to love or like me in such a way.”

Her friend grinned goofily at her, taking her words as not serious as they should be. “I was worried for a minute there.”

Sakuya rolled her eyes at him. “Relax. You are officially safe since you are my waifu. Or my first choice as a Waifu.”

“What’s a Waifu,” Hashirama asked with the slightest hint of suspicion.

“Wife. Husbando is husband.”

The older boy backed away in a rush pointing at her with a shaking finger. “I can’t be a waifu! I’m a guy!”

“Clearly you never came across certain couples then.” She said to herself before motioning to his body with her hands. “Look at you! You are as dainty and pretty as a flower, and despite your strength are very

open with your emotions and are practically a pacifist.” She face palmed again at a sudden realization. “Oh, god. You are a hippie.”

“But you’re a girl! Shouldn’t you be the waifu?” Hashirama argued.

Sakuya nodded her head seriously. “Under normal circumstances, yes. Unfortunately for you, I am very violent, bloodthirsty, savage, sadistic, and display more traditional masculine traits while you overall display

more feminine traits.” She rolled her eyes and sighed. “But we can be each others waifus then if you prefer that.”

He seemed to blush before giving into her mischief. “I’m marrying Mito when I’m older.”

Her mood plummeted at the reminder of her dear relative. She had met her once or twice while forcibly living at the Senju compound and there was intense dislike on both sides.

She thought she would like Mito, aside from her thinking her father was a traitor to his kin and a criminal and all, but it went to hell quickly. The girl never did like her from the very beginning.

“My condolences. Who shall I make the grief money out to,” Sakuya asked in a bland tone.

“Saku!”

She shrugged helplessly. “Do you love her…or is this a marriage of some alliance thing?” Her eyes narrowed, as another possible reason for the marriage where tailed beasts don’t exist might happen between the two of them. “Or is there another reason?”

“I’m ten. I don’t think I would know much about that kind of love.”

“And I’m five and I still know more sexual positions and kinks and fetishes than likely anyone else alive.”

And the boy blushed darker at her blunt admittance of such a fact.

“The point is that age is just a number and doesn’t really hold up for that kind of thing.” 

Silence ruled for a minute or two before she asked, “I can likely get the arraigned marriage scheme to go up in flames, allowing you to avoid that fate if you want.”

He neither agreed or disagreed so she took that as a strong maybe bordering on hell yes.

She folded her hands and braced them behind her head and smiled playfully at her friend. “Either way, Tobirama will be my mistress since it will burn his pride to even jokingly be called that and-”

The killing intent of a furious Madara Uchiha approached out of the tall grass around them.

“Tobirama will be your WHAT?!”

She ran, faster than she ever did before.

Speaking of Tobirama, he had helped her move and create water as needed, helping with the plumbing, bathhouses, and general needs for water for both the old city and this one.

The two Yuki twins actually were really good at two distinctive broad ranges of things and she had them in charge of making sure those things were on task. 

Katsumi, the outspoken childish and wild tomboy, loved dealing with farming, animals and anything to do with nature and was quite good at those things. She was put in charge of organizing the farming industry, setting up trade regarding food, getting animals from pets to vets and farm animals together, as well as instructing others in the things she instinctive knew and suspected.

Her younger brother, Kazumi, was soft-spoken and shy but was very good with dealing with day to day tasks. He loved cleaning and caring for the entire house and its appearance. Since he was too young to attend to some of the more specific tasks, he focused on advising the servants and cleaning staff in his stead. He was instinctual toward the details like what food to serve, how to cater or who to hire for that task, and knew who to go to for certain things like food, architects, expensive clothing, materials, and so on. His shyness diminished when he shone during these tasks and he was placed as the head of the domestic affairs staff.

Arima was making himself very, very useful. He was currently her chief medic and scientist with leanings toward being a priest in a way, but even with his workload, he made sure she was perfectly satisfied and that she didn’t need anything before doing his own tasks.

Royce and Gavin were doing something. She was sure of that much.

Her Father came around and was teaching the masses basic knowledge like writing, reading, math, and moved toward medical ninjutsu and seals to those who could use them. The fact so many people had no real education made the decision of turning the old wheel fortress into a massive education, trading, commerce and research hot spot. The fact she was going to need to make an organized school to teach them was almost too much.

And Madara… Well, he was training about three hundred thousand people who never learned what chakra is what it was and how to use it since his skills weren’t suited to creating things.

The poor bastard.

Finally, she had been using more clones than she usually did, one hundred in total. Half of them dealt with the managing of helping people move and teaching them. Eight of them continued with the chakra natures and increasing her expertise with them, and the final seven worked on genjutsu, seals and learning more about the human body and as much of medical ninjutsu that she could manage.

  
Genjutsu, despite having a high affinity for it, was hard for her to learn without screwing with others. And she had dubious issues with using anything to muddle the mind or senses.

That didn’t stop her from creating near tangible illusions or mirrored images that anyone can see or interact with and screw with them there. She had used the basic principle of genjutsu to finally write something off her bucket list: having a soundtrack for her life whenever she wanted.

Sakuya never said she wasn’t a hypocrite.

Sakuya stared out toward the forest paths that lead back to the old city about a day or two away and sighed. The beautiful glow of the full moon above her washed her and everywhere she looked with a serene glow. 

She was always calmed by the moon, affected rather, even as far back as her original life. Here, there were more worries on why that was possible but she didn’t want to linger on why that was.

For her own sanity.

  
Her thoughts were interrupted when the sliding door to the balcony behind him opened. "Sakuya-hime?"

Sakuya twisted her head about to see Arima standing near her. "Yes? Shouldn't you be relaxing? I thought I gave everyone the night off."

Arima didn't acknowledge the statement. "Sakuya-hime? Tajima Uchiha and Butsuma Senju are asking to see you. They said it's urgent and it can't wait until morning. They said to pull you away from whatever you might be doing."

_They dare order me around like I was one of their mindless clan members?_

Sakuya faced him fully then. “Where are they? Where are their messengers?” So I can choke them to death after it is said and done.

“They didn’t send a messenger. They are both here in the atrium for foreign dignitaries.”

"Smart bastards," Sakuya said. "Inform Madara, Tobirama, Izuna, and Hashirama to dress up and wait for me in the attached great hall. Have Kazumi attend to their nourishment and needs before leading them to the great hall in that spoke.”

Arima bowed down, the long sleeves of his kimono sweeping over his chest as he rose his hand to his heart once more. “Very well. I do suggest hurrying however. It might push their fragile egos too much to be purposefully late to meeting them.”

She left the balcony with some reluctance and headed toward the closet for formal wear. Ending the music entirely, she grabbed a light pink kimono with pink and white blossom pattern and a china pink hakama. Slipping into the white nagajuban and then putting on the kimono and the undivided hakama, Sakuya slipped on some black ninja sandals and took her sweet time walking the long way to the destination.

-

_Things hadn’t gone as planned._

  
Tajima looked over to the skittish brown haired and eyed young boy who was serving them food and water, asking them to follow him, and frowned.

His gaze moved over to Butsuma and grimaced at the bad luck of having to deal with the Senju as well.

When he neared the old city and came across Butsuma who was heading the same way, he felt like he was forcibly pacified. His rage and hate was still present, but he was unable to attack or even enter a battle stance or use hand seals.

Butsuma was in much the same shape so that was somewhat of a relief.

_Damnation! I never expected that the accursed girl would go this far or be so blatant in her power grabs! So much for spying and staying underneath the radar. Instead of several smaller corrupted factions that couldn’t come to a conclusion, I have my unnatural granddaughter who I could never read on our hands. To make it even worse, she has the civilians and many clans on her side now after such a rousing speech. If I try to kill her or have her influence limited after that, then I have no idea how they would react._

Tajima considered his clan being wiped out by her followers and fanatics and sneered.

_Sakuya is a foolish radical who wishes to change the world. Just because you speak openly about the issues and problems doesn’t mean that you will erase the suspicions and fear they fee. Nothing can change that after all these centuries, at least nothing so quickly. No, she can´t be allowed to succeed in her plans, whatever they are. I can´t let anyone kill her since it would only spur on others, and even if I managed to kill her then there´s still the issue with how his family and the damned brat’s allies would handle it. How could this get this wrong!? If the clan had killed the entire fellowship long before this then the people wouldn’t have to rely on them, but I guess this is what happens if you leave a malign mark unattended. They grow and become nothing more but a wound that spreads its sickness through the body._

The boy, Kazumi Yuki, opened a beige door and motioned for them to entire the dark room beyond. Butsuma entered without a pause, but Tajima hesitated for a moment before entering as well.

The closed behind them, removing the faintest light from the slanted door.

-

The darkness was so absolute in the large room that for a moment he thought he was struck blind. 

After an unknown amount of time, floating flames of blue, white, dark red, and forest green appeared and drifted around until they found braziers and set them ablaze, lighting up the different sections. The sudden light forced them to close their eyes and as they opened them slowly, both clan heads seemed almost overwhelmed by the unfamiliar location.

What appeared before them was a unusual bronze, golden, beige, and carmine color scheme. Hundreds of seats in rows on the side of the massive great hall faced each other with a carmine rug with golden and silver symbols and seals on separated both sides.

Tall bronze pillars off to the side of the end of the great hall and beyond the hundreds of seats created more floors and balconies overlooking the odd seat and the larger than life golden scale behind a large pillar that moved into a comfortable seat near the base.

The flames in the bronze braziers placed between the massive scales and the seat danced on an unfelt breeze and the seven people standing beside and near the throne didn’t pay such a thing even the slightest interest.

At the base of the four large steps of shrinking size was the Kazumi and someone who looked nearly exactly like him but with a more masculine face and frame compared to his effeminate appearance. 

He did mention he had a older sister. Was this grinning girl her?

On the third step was a gray haired and eyed youth wearing a black kimono with a scarlet obi, the sleeves elongated and drooping. He had a blank face and yet was watching them both with bloodthirsty and violent intentions.

On the second step was a white haired boy with red eyes, and judging by Butsuma’s quiet whisper of, “Tobirama?” Tajima figured he was important to the Senju.

On the opposite side of Tobirama was his own son, Izuna.

Beside the throne, standing at attention was a brown haired and eyed youth that Butsuma knew as well, and his other remaining son.

All of them carried some type of weapon, tool or armor on them. All of them were ready to defend…or to bring war at a moments notice.

Tajima and Butsuma walked forward to a large single piece of carmine carpet and were told to stop a few feet away from the base step.

A door in the back opened and closed and Sakuya approached them from an entrance in the back. She moved around the bottom three steps, the twins and the madman bowing down dramatically as she passed, and without once giving the two seeking her audience her back, sat down and looked at them with a curious stare.

“I am the representative of the Senju clan, Butsuma Senju.”

Tajima grimaced at the formal way of talking that was required of him, but followed suit regardless. “I am the representative of the Uchiha clan, Tajima Uchiha.”

Sakuya made no notice that either name hold and sway to them and merely leaned back into the throne.

The female twin grinned mischievously at them. “Our goddess does not feel that your posture is conductive to listening!” She looked up at the boy about her age a step higher than her and her twin and asked,

“Care to show them the way, big brother Arima?”

Arima looked back at Sakuya who gave the tiniest of nods and he returned his focus to the girl then the two adults. “Of course, Katsumi.”

His gray eyes bled red and shifted into a doujutsu that Tajima had yet to personally encounter: the Ketsuryugan of the Chinoike clan.

The boy flicked his fingers as he said, “Prostrate yourselves!”

_Why would I ever-_

Tajima stopped that train of thought as his body refused to obey his commands and was forced to kneel on both knees with such force that it cracked the stone floor. Even his head was pressed against the floor.  
Judging by the sound beside him, Butsuma was forced to go through the same ordeal.

Tajima activated the Sharingan, glaring at the twisted grin on his granddaughter’s face as she watched this farce without stopping it.

The blood in their veins rebelled against their commands to control it and with the second command of, _“Do not resist,’_ prevented them from struggling at all.

“Big sister Saku! They have adopted a listening posture suitable for your words,” Katsumi cheerfully said.

“Don’t be mean, Tsumi.” Her little brother quietly reprimanded the other sibling.

“Good work all of you,” Sakuya said, speaking up for the first time. “Lift up their heads, Arima.”

“You are permitted to lift up your heads. Be thankful,” Arima stated, relieving the pressure from manipulating their body in certain sections of it.

Tajima lifted his head and upper body off the floor, glaring at them all with growing dislike. Butsuma beside him was fairing a bit better much to his displeasure.

“I am the ruler of this world, the master of Hinoiri, the Fortress, and this new city of Hinode. I am Kouzai reborn, the living embodiment of life and death, good and evil, light and dark. My name is Sakuya,” the white haired hell spawn said with a serene and far too angelic to be real for her smile. “First, I must express my gratitude to you for assisting me in my little social experiment.”

  
Tajima tried to think on what that meant.

“Now onto the matter at hand…”

Sakuya snapped her fingers and semi-transparent mirror like images appeared beside the two adults bowing to children. The young girl lifted up four fingers and the atmosphere seemed to thicken with tension.

“I will offer you three options.”

She lowered the first one. “Swallow down your hatred, rage, and pride and fall under my rule.” 

Her eyes flashed a darker red.

“What?” Tajima whispered.

She lowered another finger. “You can surrender your clan head status to your chosen successor and I can deal with them instead.”

The third finger went down. “Refuse any of the other options and be blacklisted. You will be denied food, weapons, general supplies as well with all your allies being also blacklisted.”

She lowered the final finger and closed her hand into a tight fist. “I can eliminate your clans entirely, reducing the risks and threats to nothing.”

A shiver of what could only be fear ran down his spine.

Sakuya shrugged, lifting her hands in a ‘what can you do’ motion.

“Before you decide, let me show you all what was meant to happen…and what I hope to change with your assistance.”

-

Scenes played out in the mirrored images, events and deaths and the fate of the world and the formation of a village built on grief and pain.

Tajima saw his own death at the hands of Butsuma and the Senju’s at his own hands, the death of his youngest son, the creation of the villages, his oldest surviving son becoming mad at the isolation and being killed in the end. From his death, the clan had it’s own civil war before it stabilized.

Over the generations, the paranoia and avoidance along with the disapproval toward the Uchiha clan blocked them from any say in the village they helped form leading up to a brief scene of the entire clan being wiped out by another member of the clan.

The mirrors blanked, and Butsuma gave a heavy sigh. 

Tajima looked at him and saw the Senju was shaken by what he saw, and he wondered if it was the same thing or different.

“That is the fate for your prospective clans and loved ones, fading into obscurity and becoming the boogeyman and ghosts of the past. Little more than legends, and spoken in whispers, unwanted and forgotten by the world.”

He looked up and saw that three of the four people near her were shocked and horrified for different reasons. Madara was furious, his hands shaking from the intensity of his rage and he whirled on his niece who was sorrowful and kind.

“This-” Sakuya began, her voice not harsh but stern and would allow no argument, “This is what I have been working toward avoiding. The demise of two great clans, the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of innocents due to some feud that was long forgotten in it’s origins, are too pathetic a fate for those I greatly favor.” She leaned her head down on her closed fist, the elbow of the arm leaning against the arm of the throne in turn. “I admit, I did not foresee my murder nor my body being used to grant blasphemous blessings and unholy infusions of my flesh, blood and lingering chakra. Likewise, I did not take the consideration that the nine families would use your two clans against each other as a show of force against the other members of the noble families. For that, I sincerely apologize.”

She lowered her head briefly, making some of those around her shock. She lifted her head up and sat up fully.

The throne practically swallowed her tiny frame in it by it’s sheer size and she looked too young to carry this amount of weight.

But it was the ancient quality her eyes took on, the far off stare as if seeing something beyond the moment and wanting to change it, that imply she was more than she appeared.

He didn’t particularly care if she lived or died, though he doubt death would hinder her long, but he would listen to hear that this mean more.

“Let me tell you this: surrendering is not the same thing as losing. If you bend at the knee, you can still get back up. Listen to me- your pride is not worth your life or the lives and livelihood of your clans and families.”

“What is your end game?” Tajima asked. “What do you plan to accomplish should we submit underneath your rule.”

“Preventing the couple hundred or so members and allies of both clans from dwindling down to mere handfuls would be a start,” she lightly mocked. “I plan on making my acquired allies and territories across the world and use my influence so there is at least there are some areas where an egalitarian utopia where anyone, regardless of race, creed, allegiance, or lineage can visit and live in peace exists. Within the general vicinity, all fighting and hatred between clans and individuals will be settled in arena battles along with common disputes will be talked out or competed against. I will personally be turning the current ninjas into a more organized army with higher standards and survival among the masses. As for civilians, they will be learning self defense and how to use chakra in their everyday lives like increasing fertile earth so stronger and healthier grain is available, or using fire nature and earth nature during the blacksmithing process. In short, those who are allied to me and are vassal states or clans would be blessed and empowered more than they would ever imagine.”

Sakuya paused, letting that sink in before continuing. 

“While I will be trying to be diplomatic, trying to prevent pointless bloodshed among the countries and offer them a safe place to live, my default response and warning should they push me and mind too far will be: "Don't Make Me Come Over There". Aggression between or against my client states and clans is not allowed within the borders of the neutral and safe zones. I will also be helping out depending on the offering or payment for my services others give me. Violation of this rule is met with swift and overwhelming force - not unlike a surgical procedure may be used to keep an infection from festering - and the aggressor's lands, bloodline, family and property are forfeit. In exchange, the daimyo and the clans moderately rule their own domains and families in their own manner without interference - save basic humanitarian laws forbidding discrimination based on race, lineage, culture, traditions, beliefs, politics, alliances or manner of birth - and become eligible to claim the benefits of sponsored transportation, educational institutions and other such public works. Moreover, given the list of my planned units and forces, it will be clear that I will take on the responsibility for the roads, fighting fires, building things, increasing education and literacy, improving every day living conditions, militia, enhanced ninja and tactics to cover more than stealth and turn most of them away from being doomed to be the in-universe version of red shirts, and long-distance communication.”

“You are talking like you plan on taking over the world,” Butsuma said.

“If that is the only way to ensure something like the nine families, and the uncaring daimyo never happens again, that the civil wars that would have painted the world with the blood of the innocent for some pointless feud never occurs… Then I would do it gladly.”

She sounded so pleased with herself and yet remained humble. It was condescending to him.

“Monster.”

The comment was so quiet, that he didn’t even realize he had said anything until nine pairs of eyes turned to him.

Arima lifted an eyebrow, mocking the adult for speaking out. “What did you say?”

“I said you are a monster,” Tajima raised his head higher and stared at the girl. For the first time, his granddaughter didn’t look calm or composed, poised and serene. Her grip on the arm of throne tightened to the point a faint creaking from the wood and stone echoed in the sudden stifling room. She paled, leaning back in shock and her smile vanished from her face leaving her looking more emotionless and doll-like than she tended to. Even her eyes became lifeless but so terribly old and ruthless.

For a fraction of a moment, he had shook her to the point her mask dropped and he nearly went temporarily mad at realizing what he did. When the smile spread across her face, sly and slow and more teeth than anything of genuine emotion, he knew he had messed up.

“If I am indeed a monster, then surely I am a product of countless generations of mindless hatred and the embodiment of everything wrong with it. That alone should make you want to ally yourselves with me just to reduce the risk of more monsters…perhaps even greater than I,” Sakuya purred out, taunting them both.

“You should have been drowned shortly after your birth.”

Sakuya continued on like she didn’t hear that last statement. “And you should speak softer and move cautiously around me. I am feeling quite peckish at this late hour, and as you no doubt heard nobles, rulers and heads of families are winding up dead somehow.”

“You dare threaten me?”

“I accept the first option, Lady Sakuya. I do not want to see my clan suffer or their fate,” Butsuma said strongly, silencing Tajima’s growing rant.

Sakuya nodded to him, smiling in a darkly pleased manner. “Then the covenant between us is fulfilled. Your clan has my blessing and protection once more in full.”

She turned her dark eyes, the red glowing sinisterly as she considered her grandfather.

“Have you considered my offer?”

“You mean your thinly veiled command? Yes. I did.”

“And?”

“Your words are poison and I hope you choke on them!”

Sakuya sighed and turned her head to Madara. “What is your opinions on this matter?”

“The first option, though I would like to go over the details further tomorrow.”

She nodded her head and focused on Butsuma. “Will that be alright for you?”

Butsuma nodded. “Yes, my lady.”

“There is no need for that. I only had to have a display of force to have you take me seriously,” she confessed. Sakuya snapped her fingers and the images vanished.

“Katsumi show Tajima to his room and make sure he is undisturbed as he recovers from his trip. Kazumi, attend to Butsuma. Arima let them up and check them for injuries, but no playing. Now you may go.”

The pressure on his body lifted and Tajima stood up and was forced to leave the room with the cheery girl leading him.

-

Sakuya started to count the seconds before Tobirama burst out to demand what happened.

“Explain.”

_Fifty seconds. That didn’t last long at all._

“Clearly your father had decided that subjecting your clan under my nation would prevent it from dying out. Madara and Izuna’s father on the other hand chose pride and blind hatred over the livelihood of his people. If Madara didn’t agree to even hear out the finer details, the Uchiha clan would have likely been doomed to the fate you all saw. Or even worse.”

“You can’t expect people to change on your demand. Generations of being raised a certain way and then told to behave another would be impossible for most,” Izuna said, his voice shaking slightly.  
He must be bothered by what was supposed to be his death.

“I’m not.” Sakuya insisted. “What I did expect and hope for was that he would set it aside enough to save his clan from destruction. A leader must be able to swallow their own words or back them up. They are what the rest of the world look at as a symbol and a representation of those under their protection. The first, last and often only person who at a glance can depict how their nation and rule works.” She loosened up her grip on the throne and let go of the arms entirely. Small cracks in the once pristine stonework made her snarl. “He didn’t even consider it, and that alone proved he had more interest in a misguided past than any chance of a better future. Tajima all but tossed his clan into the pyre and lit it ablaze.”

Her countenance was impassive but the flames in the braziers spiked up and increased in size and ferocity revealed how angry she was.

Hashirama spoke up for the first time, soft and hesitant. “Everything in those images is what is going to happen?”

Sakuya bit on her inner cheek, cursing herself for being so blatant in her information reveal.

“Yes,” she said slowly as if tasting the words. “As one can see, this is not worthwhile for anyone involved. There were many times events could have been altered for the better but no one focused or tried them…or like Tajima was too deeply into the cycle to contemplate anything else.”

Madara looked at her bitterly for even hinting at the Curse of Hatred.

The glare intensified as Izuna asked, “Cycle? What cycle?”

“The Cycle of War.”

She snorted at Madara’s skeptic look.

_You thought wrong bitch._

Sakuya shook her head to clear it. “Loss becomes anger, anger becomes vengeance, vengeance becomes loss. We dehumanize those we fight against, not giving them names or identities and every sentient being can obsess about this or other things. It’s not a question of forgiveness or moving on, since some things stay with you forever. It’s whether you are willing to continue, break away or accept and try to adapt to the endless cycle. It’s a trait for all sentient beings and one we must struggle with daily.”

  
“You have terrible planning skills, revealing such knowledge so blatantly,” Tobirama stated.

  
She nodded her head, agreeing with his words fully. “I do have an above average record in planning and strategy, but I have a very special aptitude for analysis of people and events and great critical thinking skills. Moreover, I can easily manipulate complex plans according to my will. It evens out.”

_If someone can't handle an unpleasant truth? Lie to them. If someone won't listen to reason? Make them. If people don't choose to live peaceably? Don't give them a choice. If you don't like the rules...change the game._

  
Those ‘rules’ were what she lived by now.

  
“So you befriended us because you knew what was going to happen if you didn’t change it, and wanted to make sure we would help you.” Hashirama said, seemingly to realize something.

He is looking like a kicked puppy…

“It’s a benefit, but not the reason why I befriended you all,” Sakuya said in a tone that brooked no arguments or debates. It mellowed out and became genuinely affectionate and loving. “First and foremost, I love you four immensely and want to make sure you survive if nothing else.”

She got off the throne, feeling her butt was asleep but ignored that as she went to each of them in turn and hugged them. She even gave them kisses on the cheek to show her favor.

And to mess with them.

-

Inside of her new elaborate office near her bed chambers a short time later, Sakuya patiently watched her beloved uncle vent out his rage by destroying some decorative items and commented on it.

“I never liked that clock.”

“Hated that painting so thanks for ripping it in two.”

“Thank you for destroying that bonsai tree. Never did like them, but it would have been rude to not take Hashirama’s friendship gift or whatever it was.”

The bonsai tree was set on fire at her words and stomped on.

She sighed tiredly. “Are you done yet are you going to destroy more of my shit?” He whirled his blazing Mangekyou Sharingan on her and she stared back unimpressed. “What set your rage aflame this time?”

“You revealed what was going to happen! TO THEM!” Madara coldly stated, his warmth toward her buried underneath the rage and what might come of that.

“I didn’t have much of a choice when those two bastards showed up. I was winging the entire thing!”

He actually face palmed and she knew she failed at life then. “Obviously! It was only through sheer luck this worked out in your favor at all.”

This couldn’t be all he was upset about. 

“What’s really eating you?”

“The impending assassination attempts by that old man after you killed his pride in public? The fact you are literally my second chance at life and you have little interest in taking care of yourself since you risk yourself constantly? The fact I actually care about you and worry about you and your insane schemes? How I know this is not-” he stopped and continued on with a new sentence. “Clinical insanity? PTSD from two lifetimes? Always forced to shadow your steps? I’m charged with your well-being and you are far more suicidal than homicidal? You kissing and touching those two bastards at all and them seeming to reciprocate your friendly affections or worse feel stronger emotions and intentions than siblings or friendship toward you?! Any of these ringing a bell?”

  
She had a cheshire cat grin on her face, dark eyes shimmering mercilessly in the candlelight. “Madara, are you having another bout of paranoia?” Her tone took on a mockingly concerned aspect. “Shall I break out the tinfoil and help you make hats?’

He grasped the air like he was throttling someone’s neck, growling in frustration at how careless she was being in his eyes.

“I really hate you sometimes.”

“Really? Because I love you completely and utterly.” She genuinely did as well, but made it sound like it was a different love than what he was made to think.

Madara blushed, gaping at her like she said something so mind-breaking he couldn’t even attempt to understand and went with her bullshitting him.

“You’re such a liar. You lie more than I do and ever did,”said an almost traumatized Madara to a greatly insulted Sakuya. “Which is both impressive and horrifying.”

_Given his track record, and what he was meant to do...I have to agree._

She didn’t even give him a response and went to the large ornate desk beside the equally as large double-sided window and alcove.

Sakuya sat down in the comfortable wooden chair she had unfortunately become greatly accustomed to and felt so agitated and excited by how the Senju clan accepted her claim to rule so easily. It had all went according to plan this far and she couldn’t be more satisfied with the results as she now had nearly everything she needed to turn her vision into reality. She had the influence, the funds and the trust of the people to back her up, and also the co-operation of several major clans to start with.

Her gaze dropped down to the small mountains of parchments and requests that originated from all over the continent piled up in front of her. She looked at them with eased pressure as she didn’t mind dealing with it and passing them on to the people who could best deal with the contents. 

She had close to infinite resources now and now, she had none of the known as of yet enemies threatening her with a knife in the back for a change. 

She grabbed a pen and took out the first one and signed it with a single sentence and a swipe of her hand as she realized these were largely requests to deal with curses or mindless corrupt being attacks or other incidents.

A single corrupted animal hunt, requested from a poor fishing village in the Land of Water. Creature has reported to be overly large sharks and piranhas.

"Tobirama would be best suited and he can gather regional Intel."

The presence of five cannibalistic corrupted humans in the region of upper Land of Wind.

“Desert…I should send a clone to deal with the large expanse of territory then.”

A gigantic skeleton has been spotted crossing into the Land of Earth from the Land of Rain.

“A gigantic skeleton? Perhaps that is Hone? I should have Madara accompany me then.”

“I’m right here. Stop ignoring me.” Madara reminded her of his presence there and she continued to ignore him to write the responses.

Making someone wait was a power symbol, a circular one. It says we will do things on my time, and causes the parties involved to subconsciously agree that the one who controls the time of negotations, or here giving the other attention, is more important. This has psychological effects for both sides, with the one who is waiting for a response being more likely to make a bad deal or make a fool of themselves.

"A blood-brawler has been seen at the…"

“Arima seems to have left a bloody path," She said, pulled out the request and put it in her drawer, unsigned. 

Sakuya signed them all in a rapid rate as she swiped her pen back and forth like she pretended to deliver the lethal blow to these things personally. Money wouldn’t be a problem and the people would adore her for her actions.

She always liked the expression that the pen was mightier than the sword, and now it had become reality.

She smiled as she moved down the towers of requests in slow but steady pace.

A gigantic man-bull has been killing shepherds at the…

“Hashirama can deal with that.”

“You’re too generous. It’ll eat you alive,” Madara warned.

“Selfishness seems to make monsters of men- and yet you blame me for kindness?”

“Yes.”

She looked up at hearing how utterly serious he was.

“And no,” he reluctantly added once he had her full attention. “There is nothing wrong with showing emotions such as you do, or being soft…but not everyone has the same heart and hopes as you do. You can’t protect everyone.”

The fact they both knew that was true burned her and she felt her indignation flare up. “I have to try.”

Madara crossed his arms and his gaze became flinty and cold. It was seldom that his anger was directed at her, and it made her pause. “Like hell you do. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. You never had to be thrust into this position…or at least not like this.”

“How was I supposed to become involved with this nonsense then?! I was just a kid and I’m still a kid, but with the weight of divinity and the world on my back and the blood of monsters and humans on my hands.”

She looked down at her hands and noticed they were trembling a far bit. “I grew from an unwanted, hated and loathed person who only wanted to live and not survive and make others happy and be good..who never so much as got into a physical fight before to someone who knows how to make living and dying hurt and craves blood and destruction.”

“You always had a need to be more than human.”

“I-” Sakuya broke off eye content and looked down at the answered papers. 

He was really spot on there. She always had the need to be more than human, more than the shallow beasts she was chained to in her original life and to a point here.

“I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” she admitted, not knowing what she was specifically addressing. “I just thought it would be amusing.”

“That probably says more about you than you would like.”

She shrugged helplessly, exhaustion dragging her body down. “Some days I want to be a hero sand save the world from darkness, but sometimes I just want to watch the world burn and warm myself with the flames.”

Madara didn’t like where this was going. He didn’t like her revealing the truth, or snippets of it, but he loathed how she touched the others more. Above it all, he hated how his father had grown to see and treat her.

  
And seeing her look so small, so tired and shaken by events made him consider something he never thought of before. This fearless girl who ordered nations and moved troops and people on a whim and had followers who would do anything for the slightest sign of favor…was terrified out of her mind.

“I fully expect most of the clans and nations, or at least the nobles and powerful individuals, will be taking affront at my claims and intentions. Assassination attempts will be the least of my worries.”

“No one will touch you.”

_In any way…_

The girl left the desk and walked over to him. She stopped a few inches away before latching onto him in a bear hug and nuzzling her face where it reached on his torso. Awkwardly, he hugged her back, wondering what she was up to now.

“I’m scared. Promise me that you will stay with me and that you will never go anywhere I can’t.”

Her voice was clogged and muffled by more than the fabric and when he felt the dampness of the area touch his bare skin, he realized that she was crying.

For the first time since her rebirth, she was crying.

She is crying silently even now. Her body won’t allow her to make a scene of her tears and crying, even after all this time.

Madara detached her from him and brushed her tears away from her eyes and face with the pads of his thumb. A reassuring smile rested on his face as he smoothed her messy hair that was so much like his own but bleached of all color away from her own face.

It was so foreign to comfort another, and even now after the many times he comforted the one he had haunted to get this far and now cast this incarnation in shadows…he struggled.

“Shh, shh. Don’t cry. I promise. Don’t worry my dear Saku… I won’t let them touch you.”

He would burn the world and all those in it except them or those she ‘trusted’, if that was what it too to keep his promise.

It wasn’t the first time…

He picked up the still crying girl and carried her to her room, putting her to bed after blowing out the candles.

With a resolute expression, he decided to guard her that night, just to make sure nothing happened.

-

“Can she be trusted?”

Tobirama looked over at his father and noticed how old he had become or seemed. What he had seen must have haunted him.

Hashirama was asleep in his own room in the inner circle complex, and the white haired boy already knew his response to the question.

_Must be why father wanted to speak with me and ask my opinion._

“I’m not going to lie to you and say that Sakuya is good, or just or trustworthy. But she’s on our side- and she’s good to all of us and cares for us all deeply. Even when she doesn’t have to be. That’s enough. That will have to be enough.”

-

Two entities took offense to their Creator being emotionally attacked by her ‘family’ once more, and decided to mess with the source until he was more willing to consider her words.

-

The next day with Izuna, Madara and Tajima representing the Uchiha clan (she was shocked when the last member showed up and twitched and flinched every time their eyes met from then on) and Tobirama,

Hashirama and Butsuma representing the Senju clan met with her to form the first treaties that would allow the beginning signs of some peace.

And it would allow her to walk between them all without question…

The assignment of more permanent positions at her side was met with acceptance.

Hashirama would help her with diplomacy, politics, handling the clans and families and other factions over talks, and was in charge of public relations and propaganda as needed.

It worked, since he got along with many people and was charming.

The damned extrovert.

Tobirama was the head of intelligence, and would handle the more delicate affairs by any means necessary. Non-violence would be the preferred route, but failing that as long as it was not trace back to him, his subordinates, or herself then she didn’t care. As such, he was also in charge of the assassins, criminal network and might find it easier to make great nuisances disappear if they can’t be bought out. 

In short, he would be her loyal spymaster.

Madara didn’t seem to like that decision for some reason.

Izuna was in charge of forming the rapid response units from civilian and ninja classes. From fire fighting, to natural and man-made disasters, he would dictate how they were handled and treated. In addition, setting up some type of international law enforcement and emergency support was now his duties as well.

Madara’s duties were, alongside herself, serving as the head of the military and ninja forces. He would be in charge of advising her on the ongoing conflicts of the world, training the forces to defend and be able to take on corrupted beings and in general promoting the masses away from being weak and pointless meat shields and a red shirt army.

All of them could advise her on anything or meet to discuss anything.

Things were looking up…but she couldn’t help but feel like something was slowly forming to disrupt her hard won truce.


End file.
